Category Archives: 1960s

262E: Welsh Coal Mine Ponies (Solved)

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I loved this chapter book in the 1970s.  It took place during a much earlier era.   A coal mine in, I believe, Wales is closing which employs most of the people in the town.  The town children are afraid of what will happen to the ponies that work in the mine pulling the coal carts. They want to “retire” the ponies to a field.  The parents are worried about losing their jobs and don’t have the money to help the children save the ponies.  I believe the children make an appeal to the wealthy owner of the mine, who is sympathetic.  There may also be descriptions of the miners being sick, and of a canary dying from gas in the mine.  I remember this book having the same kind of feel to it as “The Wheel on the School.”  Thanks everyone for your help!

261E: A young girl cuts “her glory”

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A young, shy, and lonely girl visits her (aunt, grandmother, ?) for the summer. She cuts her long hair, referred to as “her glory,” that her mother refused to let her cut.  After she cuts her hair, she experiences a “freeing” self confidence boost. I read this probably in the late 60s to 70s.

261C: Children build a mechanical horse (Solved)

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I first read it when I was somewhere between first and third grade, in the early ‘70’s, and, unfortunately, don’t know what its cover or illustrations looked like, since I read it in braille. I have only the vaguest description, but hope this helps me find its title so I can now read it through adult eyes. It involved several kids who built, I think, a mechanical horse that time-traveled (maybe). Their workshop was someone’s basement—I remember they had to move some “lead weights” periodically, and I remember this only because, at the time, having never encountered the word as pronounced “led”, it took me a while to catch on that they weren’t “leed weights,” but were, indeed, “led weights”. I’m guessing it may have been 150-200 pages in print.

260G: An East Indian (Mid Century Illustrated) Children’s Book: Parrot and a Princess (Solved)

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This book is one of a series of books by a female illustrator (and for some reason I think she has an Asian name).  They are all different stories from different cultures.  The one I am searching for (and found years ago on a site from Australia when I still remembered the actual name but neglected to write it down) is a story about an East Indian Prince who listens to a parrot’s advice about a Princess.  The Princess has many sisters and an overbearing father.  The Prince is cast out into the wild, I think he’s beaten up by other Princes, and the parrot is there with him to give him advice.  I can’t remember if the parrot is more of a trickster parrot who gets the Prince into trouble, or a helpful parrot.  I think they end up together (Prince & Princess) and I don’t know what happens to the parrot. Regardless, the illustrations are simply beautiful and with crisp and clear colours belonging to the mid-century era of illustration.  I believe it’s oriented landscape, about 8”x11” (or smaller, but not by much), and it’s paperback.  My Mum bought it in the early 1970s Victoria, BC, Canada, but I’m not sure if she bought it used or new.

260C: Older Teen Romance Book

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I want to say this book was set in the 1950s – I read it as a child in the 1970s – part of the collection of young adult books at the Jonesboro Library in Jonesboro, AR.

It was about a young teen girl who was plump and had some skin problems. She had an older sister who was slender.  I remember one specific scene – the younger girl was eating a tuna salad sandwich for lunch and her sister told her she shouldn’t eat that because it was bad for her skin. She was going to do her usual sneering retort, but instead she asked her sister what she should eat instead – what she was having? The younger sister started paying more attention to her appearance. She met a boy who was new in town – her parents invited his parents over for dinner (I think they worked together). She put on too much of her sister’s makeup and borrowed heels and made a grand entrance to the dinner. Her parents were horrified and sent her back upstairs to change, so she was humiliated. The boy actually did like her already, but she didn’t have any self-confidence. Over the summer she started eating better and slimmed up. She eventually ended up with the boy who said he’d liked her all along.

259G: Daughter of Maine Lobsterman (Solved)

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This is an old (perhaps 1950’s?) children’s chapter book about a young girl living in a small Maine coastal lobster town, where her father is a lobsterman. I don’t specifically remember her mother being in the story… The main story line is that someone is stealing lobsters from traps in the town and somehow her father becomes a suspect – I think related in some way to a red sash from one of her dresses that he has in his pocket, that people think is the mask that the thieves were using. Somehow, his innocence is confirmed and I think she has something to do with it….

There are other pieces to the story as well, about her daily life, and I remember a part where she talks about listening to the rain pattering on the tin roof of their house.

Unfortunately, I do not remember any other specifics. Any help would be sincerely appreciated!

259B: Blind girl and a horse

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I am looking for the title of a book I read over and over when I was in primary school. I am 50 this year so around 40 years ago. I got the book from the school library and borrowed it over and over again. The book is about a Blind girl who befriends a wild horse, I don’t remember many other details but the girl has a operation to restore her site, the horse goes wild while she is away and I feel the horse was shot just before she returned, not the happiest story line but this book had a huge impact on me when I was young. Any help would be appreciated.

259A: A shameful delicious lunch (Solved)

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My query is on a book I read in the mid 1960’s, however I don’t know when it was published.  It was a child’s book about a young student (I  believe a girl)  whose parents worked in a restaurant.  Because of that, she “had” to bring lovely, delicious restaurant leftovers for her school lunches.  I vividly remember the descriptions of her covering her desk with a checked cloth, and taking out all this elegant, gourmet food.  The twist was that she was ashamed of her lunches, for being different.  I hope you can help!

258B: A little girl and her boarders (Solved)

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I so enjoyed reading this book in grade school (mid to late 1960’s).  It was about a young girl whose mother or grandmother had a large boardinghouse with many renters.  The story’s timeline may have been in the 1940’s or 1950’s (it could have been during WWII).  I don’t think it was based on a true story.

 

There was either an elderly gentleman or an elderly woman who the little girl was fond of.  Naturally, she interacted with many of the boarders.  I remember thinking that this house was quite large with many rooms and as a child, I wished my house was that big.  I believed she had a friend that she walked to school with.  Her mother may have been a WWII widow, as I don’t recall her having a father.

 

I don’t know what it was that drew me into this story as much as it did, if it was the story-line or the many characters or if it was the girl herself, I’m not sure.  What I do know is that fifty years have passed and even now, at age 57, I still think about this little girl and her boarders.  It must have been a wonderful tale for me to still think about it after all these years and more importantly, to ask for help – to help me solve this mystery, as it is.

 

Thank you in advance!