Category Archives: Anthology

342V: Hippies in a Sunny Book

3 Replies

The book we are looking for may have been affiliated with Paulist Press. My brothers and I remember reading it back in maybe the mid to late seventies. It was a hippie/peace kind of book. Probably a book of stories. The pictures below show a distinctive sun image that we have tried to find through Google reverse image searches. The images are likely Photoshopped for copyright reasons. These photos are from Jim Erickson’s photography site. We have reached out to him as part of our quest, but have not heard back.

341Z: UFO Light Causes Boy to Grow Third Arm

5 Replies

As you might expect, I’m searching for a book.  I probably read it in the 1978 to 1980 time frame, so publishing occurred before that.  It is possible I read the book as late as 1982, but I don’t think so.
The book may have been a Scholastic publication, but they didn’t find anything matching the rest of the description.
The book was a short story collection.  I do not remember the title or author or authors or editor.  I think the version I read was a trade paperback, borrowed from the school library.  During 1978 to 1980 I was in 5th and 6th grade.  I suppose I could write to the librarians in those schools and ask if they still have books matching the descriptions.
The story I remember from the book had a boy in probably 5th or 6th grade walking alone in the woods one evening.  A UFO appeared through the trees (maybe he was in a clearing?) and shone a blue light through the center of his chest.  Not long afterwards a third arm started growing where the light struck the boy.  He was teased at school for being different, and he thought of having the arm surgically removed.  But the arm proved to be useful when the bullies in his school started a fight with him.  He elected to keep it.  He finished the story by saying other people around the world were getting struck by the same blue light and were growing arms as well.
I do not remember the remainder of the stories in the book.  I’m not sure I actually read them; I may have had to return the book to the library.

340Y: Children’s Stories from Around the World

2 Replies

When I was little (5, 6?) I was given a lovely little red hardbound book with black embossed lettering and image which was I believe called “Children of the World” or “Children’s Stories of the World” et al. I suddenly remember that it was probably titled “Children from Around the World” or “Stories from Children Around the World” (or “Children’s Stories from Around the World”). I think the pages were double bound. Anyway, it was a birthday gift for me back in 73/74. It had some lovely short prose/stories for younger children. Larger print lettering and color illustrations. Also, it had a great story about a Japanese girl and her brother who celebrate girls and boys days and receive dolls. Thank you for helping me find this lovely and cherished book that was lost along the way in my parents’ global travels.

 

340V: Illustrated Hans Christian Andersen Anthology

2 Replies

I am looking for a specific edition of Hans Christian Andersen Stories for Children.
It was an anthology of illustrated stories including The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea and the Tin Soldier. Each of the stories were illustrated by a different illustrator.
I had this book in the early 1970s. It was a hardcover book, about 8.5′ x 11′.
I was able to find some of the illustrations online (below).  The poster of those pictures obtained them from a book published by AMZ Publishing.
I am most interested in the illustrations from the book, so that language of the book is secondary.
Thank you for any assistance you can provide!

340N: Fairy Tale Anthology, Blue Cloth Cover, 12 Dancing Princesses

2 Replies

I had a collection of fairytales in 1990-1995, though it may have been published prior to that (c. 1980-90).  It had a royal/dark blue cloth cover with a small, embossed-gold pegasus in the center of the cover (possibly with children riding the pegasus).

The collection was rather thick (perhaps a half inch) and contained at least 20 stories.  Each story was illustrated with at least one color illustration on each page (some small alongside the text and some full page). There were different illustrators throughout.  The text was regular-sized font.

I specifically remember these stories, though there were more (I’ve listed the more rare first):

  • The Twelve Dancing Princesses (I specifically remember the exquisite illustrations of the prince breaking off a branch of the silver tree)
  • The Snow Queen (illustrations of Kay and Gerta with the penny on the window, the snow queen in her carriage driving away, the garden of flowers Gerta visits, and her red shoes)
  • The Water Babies
  • The Little Match Girl
  • Cinderella
  • Rapunzel (an incredible full-page illustration of the witch’s garden)
  • The Sleeping Beauty (illustrations of thickets of thorns, sleeping kitchen maids)
  • Rumpelstiltskin
  • The Frog Prince
  • Hansel and Gretel
  • Jack and the Beanstalk
  • There may have been some Aesop’s fables as well, but there my memory gets hazy.
Thank you for your assistance in finding this book!

340C: Old Children’s Storybook: Hot Water Williams, Over-Fishing Fishermen, and More

2 Replies

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.

339W: Woman Discovers Husband’s Ship’s Mast In The Eye Of A Hurricane

1 Reply

I’m hoping that you can help me find a short story…I’ve been googling keywords but to no avail.
Clues:
This was a short story that I read during middle school. It was in the same textbook or collection of short stories as The Deadliest Game by Richard Connell.
As I recall it, the plot involved an old woman who lived near the beach in New England. There was a hurricane and she went for a walk on the beach during the eye of the storm. During her walk she observed a ship mast (or maybe it was a ship Figurehead) washed up by the storm.
I think her long lost husband or lover, was last seen on that ship and she found some sort of closure by finding this piece of it.
Keywords: Hurricane, eye of the storm, ship, mast, figurehead, New England, beach, old woman
Thanks in advance

339S: The Story of How the Easter Bunny Delivers Eggs

3 Replies

I don’t know the title, but it is a collection of children’s stories and fairy tales which my twin and I read in the mid 50s.

Key Words:  Easter Bunny, how eggs were painted and delivered.

My twin and I remember a children’s book with beautiful illustrations. This included the
story of how the Easter bunny would deliver eggs.  The illustration had a standing rabbit
with a large basket attached like a big backpack.

Thanks for any help!

339Q: My House is Cozy – Bedtime Poem (Solved)

3 Replies

I was born in the late 70’s and my mom used to recite a bedtime poem to us each night. I can remember three different verses:
Opening verse:
My house is cozy warm and wide.
It has the nicest things inside…
A knife, a fork, a yellow cup,
For drinking all my cocoa up…
Closing verse:
Outside my window I can see,
The moon and stars shine down on me.
Basically the poem was a tour of a child’s home. I believe there was a stop in the kitchen, bathroom then finally the bedroom. I don’t believe it was an original work, and seem to recall my mom saying that she got it from a book, although I don’t ever remember her reading it to us. She was born in the 50’s, so it could be from her childhood. My uncle (her youngest brother) was 10 years older than me, and it may have been a book from him that arrived in disrepair and so she memorized it to recite. My thought is that it is from a compilation/treasury of bedtime poems/rhymes/stories between 1950 and 1980. Googling hasn’t yielded anything. On a whim, I recently purchased Rene Cloke’s Bedtime Book to see if it was from there, but it wasn’t.
Thank you for any help you can provide! We lost our mom 4 years ago and I would love to find the source of this to share with my brothers and sister.