My 4th grade teacher in 1958-59 read us a chapter-a-day in a children’s book about a group of kids trying to solve a mystery. While trailing a bunch of crooks, the smell of the kids’ mosquito spray (quinine) gave them away. Calpurnia was the housekeeper.
Looking for a picture book, early 1940’s, about a Chinese doll floating down a river, perhaps Yangtze. Definitely not The Story of Ping. Black/white illustrations, red cover.
The book I am eager to find is about elephants and titled, I thought, Where the Elephants Go. I was around 8 to 10 when I read it, so 1942-1944 would be the date.
The book lovingly described an older elephant going out alone into the forest to die, with the herd respecting that but coming to mourn when death occurred.
I’d be so pleased to find it again. At our age my husband and I are being encouraged to move into this and that retirement community – all with Meadow Something in their names. They remind me of Where the Elephants Go.
I am looking for a book which was the first full length read I had, which was
in about 1955. I believe the book was written in the 1940’s or 1950’s, not sure.
It concerned a group of creatures, a squirrel, elf, bird, maybe others, who were
comrades, and hung out either by an old abandoned mill, or big oak tree, by a
river or stream.
At the end of the book, something caused this group to break up, and some of the
comrades to have to leave, travel, wander. ( I was shattered)
I have tried ABE books, not much success, just saw you bookstore & service in
Book Review / NY Times, “Authors Note / sarah manguso” Sunday March 8.
The longing she describes about a “lost” chidren’s book is all too familiar to me.
Like most people, I have suffered partings, endings of life eras, but nothing so
deep as the loss of these characters & the world they inhabited.
I think ABE suggested, maybe, Dorothy Clewes as author, but when I reviewed
various contents of books, did not seem right. If any, might be: The Wild Wood 1945,
but I really have little idea.
HELP ! & thanks
I read these stories as a young teenager in the early 1940’s. I think they were probably intended for boys. I remember the author’s last name as French. One story was set in West Africa, another in southern Patagonia.
This book is probably from the 40s or 50s. It was a series of stories that taught children how to make good choices. One story featured a greedy little boy who always grabbed the biggest cookie or cupcake for himself. To teach him lesson someone makes a nice spread of food featuring one very large muffin or potato etc. but something is always wrong with the biggest piece. For example a large pie has almost no filling inside! When he grabs the biggest one he always gets disappointed.
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.
I’m looking for a children’s book from ca.1945-1952. It’s about a little girl who finds a tiny girl fairy child and then keeps her. It has lovely color illustrations. One illustration shows the little girl giving the fairy a bath, using a soap dish for a bathtub. Can anyone identify this book?
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.
school book, monkey beside a stream drinking from a tin cup. Book is blue and orange with pic of Indian Brave with chaps on walking thru woods. 1930s/40s in public school in Logan county WV