This one seems a real stumper but I would be so grateful to anyone who can help! Do not know the title.

It’s all a bit fuzzy but here is what I remember.  It was about a man who would stand on a beach (I think) maybe in France. The pictures were pastel colored and the beach goers (men ) wore those lovely long old bathing suits with stripes and they would change in little tents on the beach. Like the 1920’s ….. but it may have been later.  The man, our protagonist, clad in a three piece suit would occasionally be asked the time by a passerby and he would pull out his pocket watch and start nattering on about its materials and history, of which he was very proud. Eventually the people would move on, never getting the time out of him.

The point was he was lonely and eager to engage anyone in conversation. So would bore them to death with his watch’s details. “This part is gold plated and was made in the time of King Louis the XVI or such and such. “ or something like that.

I grew up in the 70’s in Europe so it may be more European and not American – like the Enid Blytons etc…… I miss my dad reading this to me. Want to find this book. Can you help?

Child is given three boxes to clean their room: one to keep, one to give away & one for trash.  Children’s hardcover book, possibly from the 1970’s.

As the child sorts through their room, instead of sorting into the give away or trash, their imagination takes over with each item, with detailed illustrations, and they convince themselves they must keep everything.

I’ve tried to track down this book periodically over the past few years with no success. I can’t remember the title or author at all. I don’t know when it was published, but I would have read this in the early 90s—and I don’t remember it seeming physically like an old book. I’m not sure if I can’t find it because it’s rare (hopefully not!), or if I’m just not using the right search terms. Maybe you can help! Here’s what I remember:

It’s a richly illustrated picture book about a quirky, flamboyant man (I’m pretty sure he wears a top hat?) who moves into a drab, stuffy neighborhood where he is ostracized by the uptight parents in the community. The illustrations are somewhat stylized (maybe — but not definitely — collage). One day, neighborhood children, who have been warned by their parents to stay away from this oddball, accidentally break his window with a baseball. (Or maybe they just hit it into is yard… I can’t quite remember.) In any case, when they go to retrieve their ball they discover this guy to be incredibly kind and welcoming. I think he gives them some pink lemonade.

The children, their parents, their houses, and the neighborhood in general are rendered in black and white, but the inside of the stranger’s house is bright and colorful. I can’t remember exactly what happens next, but I think the kids and the man become friends. When the parents find out, they are furious and forbid the children from hanging out with the man, which breaks his heart. I think the inside of his house turns black and white at that point.

But one night, the “ringleader” parent’s house catches on fire, and the strange man saves the family. I think I remember a page where the text is stylized to look like smoke. And I remember an illustration of the family members jumping from the window into a tarp held by firefighters (or maybe townspeople.) This leads the community to accept the strange newcomer, and the entire town bursts into color.

For whatever reason, I cannot figure out what this book is. And it is driving me crazy! If any of this rings a bell, I’d be thrilled. Sincerest apologies for all the vague rambling. And thank you!

My grandmother had this book; it looked older but I'm not sure when it was published. I don't remember any part of the title, unfortunately. I remember that it had lots of pretty illustrations. In the story a little boy either finds, or plants, a small strawberry plant. He clears a nice little patch for it so that it can grow. As the story goes on, he slowly expands his little garden with more veggies and fruits, because he figures it's not that much more work to add a little more, and then a little more, etc. By the end he has a huge, beautiful garden that he is very proud of, but he realizes he forgot about his strawberry plant! In a happy ending, he finds it back and gives it a nice spot of its own.