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.
Hello Book Stumpers,
I am looking for an old reading textbook from grade 4, 5, or 6. Publication would have been late 1970s to early 1990s. I recall the cover had an underwater photo of a scuba diver or snorkeler, but this memory is a bit fuzzy. The cover was dark in color; lots of deep blues and blacks. A particular story I remember from the book was a Middle Eastern, Arabic, or African folk tale about a girl named Farida (or something similar). The story illustrations included a camel. This story may have involved weaving or a loom, but I am not positive about that point.
Some other information that may be useful. This book came from my grandmother, who taught grade 5 and 6 reading. Her school tended to use the Scott, Foresman readers and Ginn readers. For example, she also gave me “The Sun that Warms” Ginn reading level 11 (c) 1973, “Dream Chasers” Ginn reading level 11 (c) 1989, and “Three Cheers” Scott, Foresman reading level 10 (c) 1987. The book I am searching for may be from one of those series.
Thank you for any help or advice you can give.
A small girl visits (?) her grandmother or aunt who is a good witch albeit not a very powerful one. Somehow an evil witch who keeps as a pet an octopus named Otto gets both in danger. In the end the good witch prevails.
I am looking for book I read back around 1970 at our local library-already checked with them.
It is a short hardcover bound youth book written probably for ages 8-12. I suspect it was probably written no earlier than 1950 and no later than 1970, by I suspect a minor author.
The short story, as I recall, is about a young boy who obsessively thinks and dreams about going pheasant hunting, he eventually does go pheasant hunting, gets all scratched up in the thickets chasing the elusive ring necked pheasant and after a long unsuccessful day of hunting I believe his father ends up buying some pheasants to take home so his son does not feel unsuccessful.
As I recall the book had a blue cloth cover with black impressed line drawing of a pheasant or two and perhaps a shotgun.
I would like to buy this book, not really concerned about the price-want to give it to my son.
It is for sure not “Danny the Champion of the World.”
Thanks
There was a cat named “Strawberry” and the characters/kids in the book traveled to the Land of Now Here. I think at least part of the journey was completed in a hot air balloon, and there was a train.
This was a paperback, and I was born in 1974 so I would have read this sometime between, day, 1980 and 1988. Probably suited for ages 6-12.
There were beautiful spidery-looking line drawing illustrations – almost like Edward Gorey’s but a bit more complex and not so cartoony.
There were witch sisters, Agatha and Hecate. They were not good witches. There was a misguided/bad man who worked for the witches named Oswald. The main characters were (maybe) siblings and the other main character was a girl they met who knew her way around the magical world where the witches were, and the lot of them got out of troublesome situations by stomping three times on a manhole cover. when they did that, they would instantly be whisked out of the place and land somewhere else. They used this at least once to escape the witches and Oswald.
My sister remembers this from our school library when she was little. She would have seen this between ~1976-1986. It was illustrated, a book intended for 10-and-under children.
She remembers there was a character who was very small, a dwarf of gnome-like creature who wore a gold ring intended for a human, as a a belt. I’d love to find it for her and her kids!
I read a book of short stories in 1963. My memory is that the title or description following the title was “stories for girls to live by”. I believe one of the shorts was by Betty Cavanna. I do remember one of the stories had an excerpt about a girl on a sandy beach applying nail polish (crazy fragment to remember, I know). I have been searching for this book in vain forever. I lent it to a girl friend in 1964 and never got it back. If you can help me I’d so appreciate it as I would love to find a copy.
Thank you
Mary
This is the first book I remember reading on my own, which would have been about 1954-55. The book was much older than that. From my hazy recollection of its appearance, I’d guess late 1920s through early 1940s. I have no memory of the title or the author. It was written at what was then probably considered a third- or fourth-grade level. There were some facing-page illustrations, but I don’t remember them clearly. It’s a story about a “cave boy” who becomes separated from his family, survives on his own, grows to young manhood, and is reunited with his family at the end. Besides that, I can remember only one specific incident: lightning strikes a tree, causing a fire, which is the occasion for the boy to discover the use of fire.
Would be delighted to find it again.
It is a children’s book that I only remember the cover of. It had a blue/black background and believed to be out in space with stars. It features a group of people and one of the cartoon girls was really pretty and floating above the people was an all white girl essentially bending around them. One girl was not attractive wearing possibly a rainbow colored dress. The group of people may have been standing on a planet.