Probably written in the 60s or 70s, this is a YA book about a pair of spoiled siblings growing up in the city (I think the opening scene is of them terrorizing a babysitter). Their parents announce quite suddenly that they (the parents) are going away for the summer and that the kids will live with a relative (an aunt or a cousin) in the country. Their aunt has a husband or boyfriend who I think is Native American and the kids are both afraid of him and passionately unhappy, especially since they are expected to help fix up the big old house in which they are all living. Eventually they start working (I remember clearly a scene in which they scrape all the old paint off of tall pillars out front) and gradually are reformed so that their parents hardly recognize them when they return.
Category Archives: 1960s
340X: Man Befriends Ghost At Haunted House
I am looking for a picture book that I enjoyed when I was a child in the late 70s. It was hardbound and told the story of a man who had a long-nosed coupe and inherits/comes into a mansion and after a foggy drive there and inhabiting it discovers it is haunted. He discovers a secret tunnel underground (under a lake?) and ultimately makes friends with the ghost and I believe is led to a stash of treasure. I loved this story as I scared easily but was fascinated with ghosts, and in recollecting it reminded me slightly of Edward Gorey’s work. I think he might have been a bit Sherlockesque with a coat, hat and pipe. Had a very 60s/70s style and sensibility in the illustration. Would love to have a copy. Thank you for your sleuthing!
340Y: Hidden Paintings and Blueberries
I am looking for a children’s mystery book about several siblings who are spending the summer in an old house and find several paintings hidden in the house by a deceased but famous painter. It seems as though their grandmother is with them and they spend time picking blueberries. I thought the name of the book was Blueberry Summer or The Blue Boy but these titles don’t match the book I remember. The book is about 50 -60 years old.
340X: Fun With A Doctor’s Mother And A Quaker Mother
This book was written for young women, maybe 10 years old, and written in the late 50’s or maybe early 60’s. For whatever reason, the words How Many Miles to Babylon has always been in my mind, but I know that book and this isn’t it. The young girl has a doctor who is a hard-working doctor in a hospital, the mother is a “doctor’s wife” — very lively and fun and I think there is a sibling, maybe a little boy. There is also the woman’s grandfather who I remember as a little stuffy and patrician. The girl has a friend who is Quaker and has a mother who is a widow, I’m assuming. They live alone together. I remember wonderful details. The Quaker mother makes lunch and asks the girls to set the table and they pick the blue dishes because they look so pretty against the raspberries. The doctor’s wife mother picks her daughter up and says they are going on a road trip and I think that the sibling will stay with Granny. Then they drive to the hospital and grab the husband because he needs a road trip! The mother drives and the father and daughter laugh because she says rude things to the rest of the drivers. She’s pretty hip. I remember they stop at a roadside motel with cottages and the mother tells her to wear her bathing slippers in the shower because who knows! The last thing I remember is lobster. They have some kind of wonderful lobster.
340W: Tiny Girl Flies On Cockroach
My mom is looking for a book from her childhood.
340U: Talk Show Goes To The Dogs
This book is fiction, and could be a novel, short story, or novella, but set in the current time and real world when the book was published (sometime between 1960-1985). A famous night-time talk show (along the lines of The Tonight Show during the Carson age) hosts a segment featuring a guest who is a man with a very smart dog; the guest claims the dog can understand spoken conversation, beyond just verbal commands. There are a number of conflicts that arise; the main conflict is the sponsor of the show (a dog food company, I think) wanting to use the dog in advertising, but the dog’s owner refusing. I think it is set in Manhattan, and the book culminates in a dog fight on the ice of a pond in Central Park (between the smart dog, I think a golden retriever, and a doberman pinscher).
340K: Separates
Looking for a book from about 1960 about a young teen girl. Her mom makes all her dresses, but she wants to babysit for extra money so she can buy “separates.” She babysits children who come down with diphtheria and she must work hard to save them while in quarantine. Good luck!
340C: Old Children’s Storybook: Hot Water Williams, Over-Fishing Fishermen, and More
When I was a child we had this big storybook with a red cover that must have been published sometime between 1960-1990. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere on the Internet by searching details that I remember and I can’t remember the title. The first story I remember was about an old grumpy man whose bathtub begins to overflow because the bathtub knob gets stuck and he needs the help of the whole community to turn the knob. Everyone comes together to help him even though he is so grumpy and mean. I believe this story was called Hot Water Williams, but again this search phrase pulls up nothing for me on Google. The other story I remember is about a boat of fishermen who overfish and their boat starts to sink. The illustrations were very 70s-style. There were several stories but these are the only two I remember. If anyone can help me find it I would be so happy because it was one of my favorite books ever. I’ve been trying to find it for years.
339T: Dog and Owner Similarities (Solved!)
I have a very fond memory of a book I had as a child where the owners of their dogs looked like their actual dogs. Example: scruffy hair, unkempt, curly hair.