I don’t remember the title, but I think it may have been from Scholastic. I want to say in the 1980-1983 range.
I do remember the very first story was called “Hugh” and it was the classic hitchhiker story, and in this case Hugh the ghost saves the driver (if I’m not mistaken) from an accident.
A boy kicks over a hive of beens and is stung so much he needs to be hospitalised. He is sent to the beekeeper (for care, or to apologise, or both) The bee keeper gives him a soup which shrinks him down so he can enter the hive. He comes to respect the bees and to feel better about himself
In the 1970s I read 2 or 3 books from a series which were old books from my parents.
The main character was a boy (maybe Peter) whose father was part of a resistance movement. The father was captured, tried as a traitor and sent to jail.
The boy (who appeared to have no living mother) was taken to live with a senior person (count perhaps) who was important in the government or people the rebellion was against.
This “count” was seen by the boy as dark and evil and the grand house seemed like a prison to the boy.
The boy although very unhappy eventually made friends with the “count’s” very young daughter, went horse-riding, played etc. But he tried to get messages to the resistance movement and maybe even tried to get away. The “Count” found out, and there was some discussion about holding the father as a “hostage” to the boys good behavior or the boy to the father’s behavior.
The “Count” and the father were both really trying to work towards the same end, but the father was doing it by rebellion, and the “Count” from inside the system.
The boy ends up being treated well by the Count – but I never got to the end of the series (I think I read book 1 and 3 maybe).
I think one of the adult’s names was Sebastian and I got the feeling that it all happened in middle Europe, black forests and castles.
I would love to find out the author and the name of at least one of the books.
I have submitted two stumpers. We believe they’re by the same author, but don’t remember. We think the author is also the illustrator, but could be mistaken. These aren’t quite board books, but little hardback picture books for very young readers.
This second book is about a little girl, possibly named Susan, who feeds fish by the water’s edge. She falls in one day and is rescued and carried to shore by a big fish she has been kind to. Probably published in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
A remarkable and memorable thing about this book was its illustration.
The graphics were geometrical and simple, almost primitive, and the colors were bold. I don’t remember as well what “Susan” looked like, but her body may have been a triangle.
My parents bought the books for me at a little bookstore in Elmira, NY, when I was small, probably right around 1980-83. Would love to find these books for my own boy. Thanks for any help!
I have submitted two stumpers. We believe they’re by the same author, but don’t remember. We think the author is also the illustrator, but could be mistaken. These aren’t quite board books, but little hardback picture books for very young readers.
The first book is about a little prince who wants to play with other people, but he’s considered too special. In the end he gets to play with the others. Probably published in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
A remarkable and memorable thing about this book was its illustration.
The graphics were geometrical and simple, almost primitive, and the colors were bold. The prince had black hair and the main colors in that book were green, red, yellow, black, and white.
My parents bought the books for me at a little bookstore in Elmira, NY, when I was small, probably right around 1980-83. Would love to find these books for my own boy. Thanks for any help!
It is a gift and I’d make someone VERY happy. All I could get from her is that the book probably from 1970’s, maybe earlier. The main character was a boy with a dog, there was also a girl in book that a cat. Book went from colorless to having colors (or maybe dull to colorful) as more colors appeared, the boy became more happy. Flowers became colorful, each petal would have different fabric in different colors. Other items changed colors too and they were all patchwork-looking.
I know this isn’t a ton to go from, but it is a unique-sounding book, so my fingers are crossed. Many thanks, you may be my new hero if you can assist.
Looking for an old children’s fairy tales book, pre1940s. Illustrated in color, not a first reader, 5th or 6th grade level. The key story I’m looking for is about a girl with small feet & wished for huge feet like everyone else….put her feet in a magic well.Used to read at my grandparents.
Book with a female emerald green gypsy/witch/fairy called Esmeralda or similar, illustrations included small little Hedgehog or Mole animals dressed in elf style red hooded tunics and green legging with elf shoes. Set in Enchanted forest setting. May have been British, read in Australia early 1970’s
I read a wonderful book in the late 80s/early 90s that was about a little mouse who learns about the scientific explanation of thunderstorms. He walks around with a little umbrella and even gets to ride on some birds (geese?) into the clouds to see the positively and negatively charged air that causes the sound of thunder, etc. Please please help me find it!
Romance between a white woman and a Native American man. Set in New England. She was unhappy with her home life (being forced to marry some lout?), and ran away. It was winter; they fell in love and had a child. One section that I recall vividly – she was ill during pregnancy and having difficulty urinating (it was made more romantic than it sounds!) and he brewed herbs and cured her. The title was something like Eagle and Dove or Fox and Rose – one of those Blank and Blank titles. I read this book in the late 1970’s and it was new.