Category Archives: 1960s

303A: Animal friends eat sweets

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I’m looking for a children’s book I recall from the late 60’s to early 70’s. The character, possibly a bear, and his friends were surrounding a cake that was sitting on a log, if I remember correctly, on one of the pages.  Every time I see a Boston Cream Pie I think of the book because of the icing, I believe.  I think the cake got knocked to the ground and got sand or dirt on it. The character may have also tried to get too many cookies from the cookie jar and gotten his hand stuck, but that could be another book that just blends with the other memory. I received this book along with Hansel and Gretel as a child of maybe 4 or 5 years old. I’ve often wondered what it was. Any help would be appreciated.

302X: A crazy quilt in various shades of red

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Looking for a YA novel written in the 60’s or early (I read it in the mid-70’s) but it was set in the early 20th century in a rural area. A group of girls need to make a crazy quilt in various shades of red—I can’t remember why—so they had to beg, borrow and steal fabric to make it. One of the girls goes to the general store with her father who is color blind and convinces him to buy a bolt of a particularly lurid shade of scarlet for a dress for her mother who was far from pleased when she received it.

302G: Upside Down Man

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I'm looking for a children's book from late 1950- mid 1970s. I thought it was called the upside down man. However, it is not either of the books by Ellentuck or Baker. It's about kids at home and their parents leave and tell them whatever you do if the door bell rings, don't open the door for the upside down man. But they let him in and he turns everything in the house upside down. It is done in line drawings, black and white. I think it was from a small publisher around Boston.

302E: The protagonist, a scarecrow, was stuck in a garden

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I’ve looked everywhere online for a book I read as a child.  It would have been published in the 50s or early 60s; I read it when I was in the first to third grades which would have been 1964-1967 or 1968.  I’ve forgotten the title and author but remember the story line vividly.  The protagonist, a scarecrow, was stuck in a garden or field and wanted more than anything to be free.  When autumn came and the garden had been harvested, the farmer began to burn all of the refuse, including the scarecrow who, at last, was turned into smoke and was finally free to drift through the air.  It’s a beautiful book and I’ve searched for so long but am limited when I can’t come up with a title or anything else to aid me in my search.  If you could find the book, I’d be very grateful and would even be happy if you could come up with a title and author.

302D: A pound with all different kinds of dogs

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This book I am looking for is about a pound that has all different kinds of dogs in it waiting all day for their new master to come get them.  As the day goes on one by one a person shows up that looks identical to one of the dogs in the pound and that dog gets to go.  The book is from the perspective of one dog in particular and as every person shows up the dog says “ are you my master?” or something like that “Are you my guy?” or “is this my guy?” and each time it’s not his guy it’s another dogs guy.

And as the people show up one by one, as a kid, you KNOW what dog they are coming for because the person looks identical to the dog.

The day goes on and on and it’s finally dark, they are closing, and this one dog who is narrating is the only dog left.  No one has come for him and he is all alone and very sad.  Finally just as they are closed, HIS GUY, or HIS BOY, shows up and they are identical looking and the dog and the boy are overjoyed that they have found each other and he gets to go home with the boy.

It is driving me crazy that I can’t remember the name of this book or how to find it.  I am 53 so it was probably written in the 1960s.

I’m not sure how to pay for this but Ill go back on the website and make sure to pay but please post this I promised my Mom that I would try to find it!!!

302B: A hedgehog named Harriet

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I am looking for a children’s picture book about a hedgehog named Harriet. The thing that I remember best was that she wore red high heels. This was my baby brother’s favorite book in the 70’s, so I am guessing it was released in the 60’s or 70’s. I don’t think that it would be older than that based on what I remember about the pictures. He recently passed away and my mother would really like to find a copy. I have done a lot of searching and have not been able to find even a clue. Please help!

301X: Shoes that looked like ballet slippers and a string of pearls

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The book that I have been unsuccessfully searching for is a book of short stories for girls that was published in the mid 1960’s.  I recall purchasing it at a school book fair, most likely in junior high.  The stories were mostly coming of age stories for teenage girls.  One story told of a girl who did not fit in in high school, and she wanted new clothes that she believed would help.  I remember she wanted to buy “shoes that look like ballet slippers and a string of pearls.  I seem to recall that she also played the piano.  Another story was about a girl who felt very unattractive and her dad said something to the effect of she was not a pretty girl but she was going to be a beautiful woman.  I have searched for this collection of short stories for many years and have found many collections, but not this particular one.  I would be very grateful if you might have any information about this elusive book.  Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

301P: A boy makes a “Dagwood” style sandwich (Solved)

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1960s children’s picture book about a boy making a tall, stacked “Dagwood” style sandwich.  The text is minimal – “a little of this, a bit of that, and some bread”. There is a girl (sister?) watching him in amusement. The focus is on the entertaining parade of sandwich ingrediants. The pictures are not full color and are sketchy and “modern” in feel.  As a kid this book made me want to make sandwiches every time I read it!

301G: Your typical high school romance

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I read this book in the early 1970s, I’m assuming it came from the 1960s. I don’t know the name of the book nor the publisher. But it was your typical high school romance of the time, where the popular boy in school falls for the less popular girl and her name was Beth.

Obviously the book resonated with me  at the time because my name is Beth I would have read it around the age of 10 to 13.  I always wondered if I could find the book and reread it is an adult what would I think of it.