The book I am looking for was about a bunch of different animals (a golden lab puppy, a kitten, a hen, a duck and turtle I think, maybe also a squirrel) that all lived together in a cottage in the woods. I think it was a golden book but can’t find it on their lists. I also think it was a picture book. It has several pictures of them all cohabiting and doing house chores. I think there was a picture of the puppy with an apron pulling stuff out of the oven. I also remember pictures of them holding little hobo packs (bags on the end of a stick) possibly moving to the cottage. The artwork was not cartoony it was more like paintings.

A children’s book, about a group of woodland animals who stumble across a ‘baby’ in the woods – they’re concerned that it’s been abandoned, and the common refrain is “Whose baby is this?”  It is in fact a child’s doll, and the little girl comes running to fetch her, as the snow falls – gorgeous art.

This is a very vague memory and unfortunately I only remember a few minor details. It was a colorful children’s book with a little cottage surrounded by a moat. A little man rowed a boat shaped like a swan (or a duck) to and from the cottage. It is NOT The Old Man at the Moat, although I realize it sounds similar. The man in that book has reddish hair and is shown as rather large, whereas I think the man in this book was small and had brown hair and a brown beard. It was also a different style of illustration – everything was drawn smaller and was show as being farther away (vs. large and up close as in The Old Man at the Moat). I remember lots of pinks and purples and one picture of the cottage that showed it viewed from the left side (if you were looking at it from the outside). The cottage was also on a very small plot of land – almost like a circle had been cut out just to fit the house. I thought at first it might be Magic Afternoon (similar vibe and illustration style), but that cottage doesn’t have a moat!

I am looking for a children’s book that has a red hardback cover.  I believe the pages inside are all black & white.  There are no words.  It is a picture story about an apple.  At one point I think the apple is thrown out a window.  No, it is not The Giving Tree – that has a green cover.  It’s size is about 5 x 7 and it is vertical.  I don’t know the title.

Just note that the book I’m searching for is definitely not “A Birthday for Frances”.

My sister and I first saw this book in our elementary school back in the mid 70’s in the midwest of Canada. It was probably an American book perhaps from the 50’s or 60’s.
It was a smallish hard back book. The most prominent aspect was that it was made up of 3 colors, black, pink (my sister thinks it was bright magenta) and white.
The premise of the book seemed to revolve around a black and white animal family (skunks?) and a birthday cake with pink candles. My sister seems to remember that the drawings were very simple using black heavy lines. One of my recollections is that the end pages had vertical black and pink stripes.

Can you help us? We are so desperate to find this book again!!