Category Archives: Solved

330Y: World Girl History Series, Including Dolls (Solved!)

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I’m looking for an early-to-mid-90s “American Girl”-style series of short illustrated chapter books about girls living in different periods of world history, each with their own 18-inch doll.

I am definitively NOT remembering Pleasant Company’s own “Girls of Many Lands” series. Believe me, that comes up every time I try to Google this series and it’s not the one I’m thinking of.

The line may have launched with one book for each doll, then gone out of business before publishing more books; I only remember the first book for each character, most likely obtained through the Scholastic Book Fair.

The characters and books were, as well as I can recall:
– An English girl in the 1100s who was into falconry. Name may have been Elinor/Eleanor. Vivid recollection of the cover: a blond girl in a dull blue dress reaching out to touch a falcon.
– An African (I want to say Igbo?) girl from the 1400s. Vivid recollection of her helping her older sister put on makeup before her wedding, including interior illustration of her applying the makeup. (I remember being surprised that they had makeup way back then. For some reason, that’s what stuck with me.)
– A French girl in the 1700s who wanted to be a ballet dancer. Name may have been Marie, or Marie-Something, or Something-Marie. Cover showed her dancing on a Parisian street.
– An Irish immigrant girl living in San Francisco in the late 1800s. Name may have been Bridget or some other extremely Irish name. Cover may have featured her holding a book to her chest and gazing meaningfully off into the distance. She had curly red hair because of course she did. I believe she also had a Chinese immigrant friend or potential friend who barely showed up and whom I hoped I’d read more about in later books. Vivid recollection of one scene in which she and another girl bond over how much they loved “Little Women” and cried over “the part with Beth.”

There may have been more; those are just the four I remember. On the last page of each book was a perforated card with a photograph of the dolls on it. You could tear out the card and send it away with a check to order a doll. They looked very much like American Girl dolls, so much that even as a child I could tell right away, “Oh, these people are totally ripping off American Girl.” But I could forgive them because hey, history’s a lot bigger than just America! Someone’s gotta fill that niche!

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!

330Q: Enchanted Cat Saves The Night – Short Story (Solved!)

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I’m looking for a short story about an enchanted cat, that might have been in an anthology of Halloween stories, possibly published in the mid to late 60s. It might have been set in colonial times. The cat’s human companion is unaware of his magic powers until there’s a crisis in the town. The cat goes out to save the night, then comes back, drained of magic, and his last words as the glow fades from his eyes are the instructions to be sure to provide fresh cream (or was it milk?) every day. Thanks so much if you can help me find this!

330C: Illustrated Children’s Anthology Of Animal And Fairy Tales (Solved!)

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I am searching for a children's anthology I had as a child. It's almost certainly pre-1970s and had a red hardback cover. It was smaller than a piece of regular printer paper, but approximately 3 inches thick. My copy had the spine loved off it, so I can't recall the title. It had beautiful color illustrations, one per story, and I think full page in each case. There were a *lot* of stories but ones I remember included: The Happy Prince, with the illustration being the prince's statue with the swallow at his feet; Prince Rabbit, with the illustration being the rabbit at court if I recall; The Elephant's Child, with the illustration being the crocodile pulling the elephant's trunk; The Devil's Hide, also called The Boy Who Wouldn't Lose His Temper, with the illustration being the devil's cat in the woodpile. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

329X: Young adult science fiction book featuring an alien boy hiding on Earth with an caretaker/teacher (Solved!)

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I remember reading this book in the late 80's and I think it was the 2nd book in a series. The only details I really remember of it are: 1. The boy had to fake his death in the beginning (involving a bus) and move to another town. 2. He had special powers and could turn invisible 3. He kept having premonitions about upcoming events. 4. One of the premonitions involved lightning during a little league baseball game. I also think the planet he came from was something like Altair or another "A" name.

329S: My Lady, My Love (Solved!)

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I’m looking for a book I read I as a teen in the 60s called My Lady, My Love. No idea who wrote it. It is about a king whose wife died. He was so distraught that he didn’t want another queen. The kingdom needed a queen so he married a baby. (Not in a creepy way). He figured by the time she grew up, he would be over his wife.

329K: Boy With 9 Lives Stored In Matchbook (Solved!)

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I’m trying to locate a book I read in the 80s about a boy who lived on one world in one of 9 universes. Since he only existed in one universe, he possessed 9 lives and magic without knowing it. A family member put his lives in a matchbook so they could use his magic. Then he found out and got his remaining lives back and had adventures in the different worlds.

329I: Picture Book about a Cherub Genie in a Gumball Machine (Solved!)

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I believe this book is from the 60’s or 70’s. I read it around 1993 so it certainly is earlier than that. The illustrations have simple cheerful pen/line work. My recollection of the plot is a kid puts money in a gumball machine and is granted wishes genie style and/or it releases a cherub who just decides to make fun things happen. There may or may not be three gumballs. At one point kids are skipping with a very long piece of licorice or some other candy.

I recall the flying cherub is just a white body (as white as the page) with a black outline. He may or may not have curly hair. I also think that the page backgrounds are all white. The illustrations do have colors though, but there is not much visual texture – it is very flat with black line outlines on everything.

That is all have. I read this book only once and have been collecting picture books for years now and have never seen anything even close. Thank you so much! I’d be thrilled to find it.

329H: Short Stories for Girls (Solved!)

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I read an anthology of teen short stories probably from the 1960s. The two stories I remember are:
1) a shy, plump girl named Becky loved to bake, but she agreed to take a role in the school play because she had a crush on a boy in the play. The role was motherly (or grandmotherly) so Becky felt she could pull it off even though she wasn’t an actress. The boy crush would come over to “rehearse” but really he was there to spend time with Becky and eat the yummy things that Becky baked. He finally admitted that Becky wasn’t a very good actress, but he wanted to date her because he felt so comfortable with her in her cozy kitchen.
2) A slim, athletic girl who always wore pedal pushers had a special word “v’standen” that she and her dad invented to show that they understood each other, no other words necessary. When she got dressed up in a strapless gown to go out on her first date, her dad made a cold remark about how she looked. He wasn’t actually being mean, he was just shocked at how his little tomboy had grown up. When she came down the stairs to greet her date, her father tried to stammer an apology. She told him “v’standen” and everything was good.
Note: This is NOT “Stories to Live By” from American Girl Magazine. I bought the book, but neither story is in it.

329G: Silver Headed Ghost Children (Solved!)

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The second story I am trying to track down from my childhood is an anthology of weird and horror stories (not really gory given the era, and written for children). It was in our school library in the early 80s and worn, so it could easily date to the 1950s through the 1970s. The story is about two children (a brother and sister) who come across and old house in the woods and find that a family of children live there who are very strange. They have silver hair and no parents. Eventually the unusual children hold a party with a big cake that has a sleigh with two small dolls that look like the brother and sister. The brother and sister find out that when the sleigh rolls down the hill of the cake they will be trapped forever to stay with the silver headed children. They flee the house and when they return the next morning they find nothing but ancient ruins. Apparently the silver headed children are ghosts that only occasionally turn up and wanted the brother and sister to join them. I'm afraid I don't recall any of the other stories in the anthology. Thanks!

329B: Troublesome Cat Sent To His Room (Solved!)

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I'm looking for a book I had as a child in the 1970s, though the book may be from the 1960s.  It was a small paperback with a light blue cover.  It was about a cat, I think named Henry, and his mother. The drawings were very simple pen & ink drawings.  There may have been a little blue in the drawings too, but mostly I think they were back and white and were simple.  The cat was always getting in trouble, and had to be sent to his room. His mom was cooking in the kitchen.  They both walked upright - and the mom wore an apron.  I think it may have been a series and there were other stories about him.