369L: Series of animal stories

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So there were many books in this series
-one was an animal stealing ribbons and the turtles wax for their bike without asking
-one was all the animals calling a little crow a monster because they thought he looked scary and they found out he was nice in the end
-one where two of the animals were trying to find treasure but get lost and stumble onto the old dogs fishing spot ( I think his name might have been old red or old blue) and he shows them that it’s under the plank because it was his old treasure
-one with a broken wagon
-one where they are playing baseball in the rain
-one where an animal thinks their birthday is forgotten but all the animals are throwing a surprise party
-and one where one of the animals is painting and their pet lady bug is stepping in the paint and making tracks

if i remember correctly each book also had a dvd.

369J: Two Sisters share room with secret alcove or passageway

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My daughter is looking for a book that she checked out of the library in the early ’90s. This was probably a middle schoolers book. Two Sisters move with their parents a long drive away from where they previously lived. The first night they have to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. They both want the bedroom that has some sort of alcove or passageway that ( might) lead to the outside. They fight, and one sister climbs out the window (?) and falls and possibly breaks her arm (?) . The story is told from the POV of the younger sister. They possibly have moved to a small town and the house might be a Farmhouse type house or older home.

369I: Girl summer magic or witchcraft (Solved!)

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I read a book sometime in the late 70s/early 80s that was purchased from my school through a flyer or book fair.  It was a chapter book that may have had an illustration or two.  Best I can remember, a girl is spending her summer break maybe in a new home or at a relative’s home.  It seems like the summer may have been rainy and she was exploring the house.  She found something in a basement or cellar that was either magical or had to do with witchcraft.  She experimented with the magic but it seemed to turn out badly and there was  an explosion or climactic event in the basement.  In the end, all was resolved with a pleasant ending.  I don’t remember the book centering on any other characters so only one main female child.  I don’t remember the title or the cover but I have a vague recollection of orange and purple on it.  Here’s hoping someone remembers.

369H: Murder Mystery in London with clones

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I have posted this query on Reddit and on Stack Exchange previously.
This would have been after 1996 – 2005 ish, and I’m pretty sure it was a newly published book.

It starts with a woman who has hallucinations, and runs into an alleyway where she finds a body that looks just like hers that has been murdered. Later on, she finds a beautiful man who says he’s from another parallel universe and seems to think he’s connected with Arthurian legends, i.e. he talks about Merlin, wizards, and so on.

It starts off looking very magical and predictable, with the woman and the handsome man trying to hunt down the murderer. Then it goes somewhere else entirely.

There were seven murders in total at various points around London — they thought that it might be Jack the Ripper based, but it turns out the murders occurred at ritually significant distances around the city, and that Jack the Ripper was actually the last time they tried this, to open a portal between the worlds.

They think that the slimy enemies from another dimension are responsible, and the handsome man calls to Merlyn, his boss, to help out and ensure the slimy enemies don’t get a foothold.

They succeed, but then the woman finds that the slimy enemies are not responsible for the murders.  The handsome stranger turns out to have murdered her clone himself as part of the ritual that would allow his reality to enter hers — she is actually the clone, and the original was murdered. Her confused memories and hallucinations are because she ran off before the stranger could finish creating a convincing replacement and so she still retains some memories of the original.

The handsome stranger is actually a useful idiot that is handsome and dumb precisely because he’s a facade that covers what the traders actually look like (they’re distinctly non-human and not nearly as affable).  He’s a construct.

And there’s the Handsome Stranger’s manager… who appears as a kindly wizard based on Merlin? Again, he turns out to have been orchestrating the entire thing, and the whole “help us save your reality against evil slimy things” turns out to have been a dispute over trading rights to Earth between two equally slimy organizations.

The book ends with humanity establishing trade and goods with the unbound reality and becoming less and less human — strange buildings, humans with gecko like arms and legs living on walls, etc. Very creepy, and very hard to forget.

369G: Father on Quest to Find Daughter’s Missing Doll

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I am hoping you can help me find a picture book. I may have had a copy as a child (or borrowed it from the library), so it was available in the 1960s/70s. 
The story was about a lost doll. A little girl loses her doll and her father goes out into the night in a storm/snowstorm to find it. The story is emotional and there is a sense of danger to his quest. The setting seemed to be an older time, turn of the century maybe. Russia or Eastern Europe?  
The illustrations were beautiful, dark, and very impressionistic. When I see art by Edvard Munch, it reminds me of the book and I wish I remembered the title or author. My mother was a bookseller, so it bothers me even more that I can’t find it.
Here’s hoping someone remembers.

369F: Nerdy Woman Finds Love on Plane

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I’m certain I read this book in late 1999-early 2000. It’s about an erudite middle-aged woman who never had much romance in her life and never received much attention from men. I remember her explaining the one thing she has going for her is that she has stayed fit while other women her age gained weight. She never had a husband or kids. On the plane ride over she meets a man who is kind of bumbling and she doesn’t think would be a good fit for her. The book was probably set in the 90s. I think the man was a handyman. They fall in love when they’re both in London.  If my memory serves, I believe the man dies.

369E: The Naughty Frog (Solved!)

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My wife and my mother in law remember a children’s book that they read together in the late 80s or early 90s, long since lost–and they have been searching for it for years to hopefully share with grandkids.
The book has illustrations only, no words, and has a similar illustration style to a “Frog and Toad” book.
The book features a little boy with a pet frog. The boy takes the pet frog out on a boat, and while out on the water to somehow another little frog joins the ride.
The first pet frog is secretly jealous of the newcomer and when the boy is not looking, the first frog kicks the other one off into the water, but then plays innocent.
These covert aggressions continue, and are apparently very funny. But the boy eventually figures it out and scolds the naughty frog.
I look forward to any help that you can give!

369D: The Secret Passage, Straight to the Bakery (Solved!)

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I’m not even sure why this particular picture book continues to stick with me. Was it the thrill of exploring a secret passage that sparked my love of exploration? Was it my first surprise ending? Was it my love of bakeries? I’m really not sure, but I’d love to find a copy. I borrowed this book from the children’s section of the Elmhurst branch of the Queens (NY) Public Library many times from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. There were either one or two children–boys I think–who were exploring a secret passageway they had found in an old mansion or castle. I think he or they had just moved there but my memory is unclear. One of the illustrations I remember best showed an interior view slice of the whole house, including the secret passageway winding its way through the multi-leveled dwelling, with the two boys visible with their flashlight somewhere on a lower level. The boys follow the passageway a long way underground to a door. The door opens out into a bakery in the town or village.  There’s another illustration of a surprised baker at his oven as the small door opens out from mid-wall and the equally surprised boys tumble into his bakery. For some reason I think the baker is French, but again details remain elusive. At the end the baker serves them cream puffs or eclairs. Another post I saw (on another book search site) seemed to be a  query about this same book and mentions the boys perhaps finding some old casks of wine (?) that had been missing for some time. I also think the town was celebrating some kind of anniversary and the townspeople hoped to celebrate with the casks of wine. It’s also possible I am confusing two books. If anyone can help, I’d really appreciate it!