I had cousins that used to read to me from a book during the years 1942-1945 that began something like:
Poor Susie Cruthers
Had no sisters
Had no brothers…
I don’t remember the rest but it went on to say things she liked to do.
Thank you for you willingness to search for the treasures of childhood.
This book was from my elementary school library, read around 1967. The book was older, 1950s or 1940s. A family that was either down on their luck, or through an inheritance, move to a house in the country that came with African-American servants. This might have been in the South and it seems as though there was an adjustment. I recall food scenes, such as how much the family enjoyed the fresh baked biscuits. This might have been their first encounter with them. In another scene, the mother twists her ankle while walking through the garden and sits alone until she was found because she was in too much pain to walk. What struck me was that this was the first book I read that was told from both an adult and a child’s viewpoint. There was a mystery involved too but I don’t recall whether the house was haunted.
About a mutt dog, a many-paged book and the longest I’d read at age 11 in 1957, who goes through many awful experiences through his lifetime and dies at the end. I think the dog was part pit bull and maybe bulldog, definitely a short, squatty and solid guy. I had checked it out as many times as possible, then finished it all through the night so I could drop it off at the library the next day. Intending to reread it, I found that it had been withdrawn for repairs and never returned to the shelves.
I read this children’s book as a boy in 5th grade (1953-54), age 9 or 10. It was dreamy & (to me) “romantic,” an adventure, I think, and involved being marooned on an island or shore. Submarine may have been involved. Cover picture showed view toward the sea through a break in the tropical vegetation, from what seemed like a hiding place.
I read a book as a young teenager in the late 1950s entitled Roommates; it was about two girls who bonded as roommates. The book was touching and so poignant that I realized the potency of literature then. I believe the first name of the author may have been Rosemary. I probably borrowed the book from the Brooklyn Public Library.
Published early 20th centurt
Setting – NE mill town, manufacturing thread
Plot ?? Cain and Abel, Prodigal son
Protagonists—–brothers, Ira and Myron
I do not know the title or author of this book. The cut-out “book” came out sometime around 1940-1945, I believe. It was about 8 1/2″ by 11″, possibly bigger, and perhaps 3/8″ thick. The book contained cut-out WWII era airplanes in full color, perhaps two pagers per plane. When assembled they had a 3D presentation e.g. the fuselages were cylindrical and the wings’ surfaces were curved. They were not intended to be “flown” like a glider. They were surprisingly realistic when assembled.
I am writing a memoir and am trying desperately to identify a children’s picture book that would have been published around 1948 – 1953. It is a story about a little zebra that gets lost. The only vivid image of it I remember is the little zebra encountering a senior Zebra who was wearing reading glasses on his nose. The elderly zebra helps the little one find his mother (I think).
I do not remember the title except that I’m sure Zebra was in the title. It is a picture book.
Back in 1952 or 1953, when I was 4 or 5 years old, I adored a book we took out from the Brooklyn library. I cannot remember much except that there were illustrations of a fisherman with nets full of bright colorful fish. It’s not Scupper the Sailor Dog. I was a bookseller for over 20 years and I was never able to track down this book.
My grandfather read this book to me over and over, probably around the early 1950s, so it may have been published as early as the 1930s. It was a children’s picture book, and all I can remember is the last page read, “And The Sun Came Up.” That phrase was most probably used throughout the book. I loved it and have looked for it all these years, at antiques stores, rummage sales, etc. I would love to know the title and see if it is still around somewhere, so I can read it to my own grandchildren.