This was a short story in a book of many. It was a book from the late 1960’s or early 1970’s and tells a story about an old bearded guy or a gnome type that would give the flowers their scent and color. He was carrying the bottles over a river as he walked across a log and slipped into the water and the fish tried to help him collect the bottles. There was also a girl or fairy who was in the story. The pictures were very colorful and fun.
This book features a simply drawn boy, maybe even a stick figure. At some point, perhaps in a dream, trees come to life and dance around him. I believe the trees turn to popsicles or lollipops.
Thank you for trying to figure this out with so little information!
Hi!
This was a cherished book I had as a child (I am 47). The book was unique in that the illustrations were of rooms in a real house, with a real teddy bear. In the book I think the bear was “alive”. I can recollect something about the London bridge.
I’m also looking for a book probably written in the 50’s/60’s about a witch that would grant wishes but the children had to give something in payment. So one boy wanted to be able to talk to his dog, but because it was French poodle, it only spoke in French. Another girl wanted a wish granted and the witch asked for her eyebrows.
Hi, I am looking for a young adult novel, published sometime in the late 60s to mid-70s.
Plot details:
An older man, somewhat down on his luck, lives alone in an apartment in a big/bigger city. He sees young boy (orphaned? abandoned?) wandering the streets. He takes him in, even though the man doesn’t have much money himself. He buys the young boy new clothes (which he almost can’t afford). At Christmas they decorate a small tree with the silver foil from inside boxes of cigarettes. They become a family. Possible names: Teague and Me? Me and XXXXX?
I read a junior fiction trilogy in middle school in the early 70s.
It was about two brothers who build a flying machine (NOT the Wright brothers – as virtually all my searches return).
I think it was set in either England or New England, possibly on a farm; likely at the turn of the 20th century. I think their mother is one of the characters. I remember specifically a description of cool linen sheets – of all things!
I think both brothers may have liked the same woman. (They might have been cousins but I don’t think so…)
One of the brothers was injured at some point – either in a crash, or maybe in war? Walked with a limp and a cane after that.
I remember rich detail in the writing.
Any thoughts or ideas would be welcomed. I’ve been hunting for years!
Greetings from upstate New York!
I hope you can help me identify and find a book I had as a child.
I do not know the title or what the cover looked like because my copy was missing the cover. But here are the facts as I remember them:
I was born in 1960, so this book had to be late 50’s early – mid 60’s
It was a Christmas book – containing many different stories/legends from the birth of Christ to the real Saint Nicholas to Christmas legends like the Christmas Spider
It was a large, oversized book, say 12″ x 18″ ish. It was not a thick book.
What was so great about it was the artwork – very beautiful renderings – not cartoony or modernish, more like realistic paintings. So the art was appealing for even adults, but the stories were short, maybe one or two per page. If I had to guess, I would say the art style was something similar to this picture below.
As a child, the images I remembered the most was the story of St. Nicholas paying the dowries of three poor women. They were all sleeping in a bed and he threw a bag of gold in through the window.
There was also a story of this flying ( but I don’t remember it with wings!), hairy, red-eyed beast with sharp tusks/teeth, but I can’t remember the story. LOL – I don’t think it was Krampus, because it was more like an animal (wolfish) than a human devil guy.
Another feature was the rich colors of the end papers. Like a renaissance fabric pattern. I think red with a little blue and gold in a repeating diamond pattern, I think – it has been a long time since the book was lost or given away.
So I know these are a lot of random details – I wish I had the title and publisher, but maybe you can help me – my desire is to purchase a replacement copy to pass on to future grandkids.
I read this in the 60’s when I was in grade school. It is a mystery. Involves two or three children and a mysterious painting that ends up having two poodles painted on it. The Green comes from the name of the children (i think) It has been too long ago to remember all the details.
Probably read this in the early 1970s Two children, boy and girl, are turned into buttons by a woman (witch?). As buttons, they looked like carved bone and I think they were dressed as Pilgrims. They had to escape before they were sewn onto anything, because once they were sewn on, the change was permanent.
This is just a fragment! But if you could help me I would so appreciate it.
I grew up in Australia in the 1960s-1970s, and was obsessed with a picture book that featured the main character finding a tree with a small door at its base. The tree had gnarled/ exaggerated roots. The character went through the door and down a flight of stone stairs into what I remember to be a kitchen/witch’s den, lit up with yellows and oranges from an open fire. I cannot remember what happened next – but obviously it is terribly important if I keep searching for this book! 🙂
It is not the Berenstain’s Scary Tree story although slightly familiar in concept.
Thanks so much
Julia