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Sounds like the classic Paddle-to-the-Sea...  Early editions can be quite collectible now.
D115  [Note the canoe and its passenger are little models, not real people, but reader could have remembered the real boy.]
Holling, Holling Clancy,  Paddle-to-the-sea.  illus by Holling Clancy Holling. c.1941.  Native American boy makes a beautiful model of an Indian in a canoe and places it in a snowbank which will melt and flow into the lakes and rivers going to the Atlantic from south central Canada; Caldecott Honor award for its beautiful full-page illustrations.
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Indian boy carves toy canoe. leaves it on top of mountain. snow melts, carries canoe down mountain stream/river and grown boy finds years later.

Holling C. Holling, Paddle to the Sea, 1980, reprint.  A young Indian boy in Canada carves a little canoe with a figure inside and sets him on the snow just north of Lake Superior. When the snow melts, the canoe, named Paddle-to-the-Sea, is off on a long trip through each of the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence River and into the Atlantic Ocean. This book chronicles its remarkable journey in words and lush pictures, and the reader learns a great deal about the life, industry, and people of the region. This book has made geography vivid for young readers since 1941. A Caldecott Honor Book.
Holling Clancy Holling, Paddle-to-the-Sea.  This reminded me of Paddle-to-the-Sea, though I could be wrong.  A boy in the Nipigon region of Canada carves a little Indian in a canoe, names him Paddle-to-the-Sea, and sends him on a journey through streams and rivers and the Great Lakes to the sea, and farther, helped by the currents and by people who find him along the way.  In the course of the story the geography and industry of the region are described.
Holling C. Holling, Paddle-to-the-Sea.  I'm sure this is the right one.  One of Holling's oversized books with lots of marginal illustrations.  A great way to learn about the Mississippi from end to end!
film, Paddle to the Sea, 1966.  This was also made into a wonderful film: "For all children and those adults for whom the romance of journeying is still strong. This great NFB children's classic is adapted from a story by Holling C. Holling. During the long winter night, an Indian boy sets out to carve a man and a canoe. He calls the man "Paddle to the Sea." The boy sets the carving down on a frozen stream to await the coming of spring. The film charts the adventures that befall the canoe on its long odyssey from Lake Superior to the sea. This delightful story is photographed with great patience and an eye for the beauty of living things, offering vivid impressions of Canada's varied landscape and waterways.  1966, 27 min 59 s "

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Holling, Holling Clancy, Paddle-to-the-Sea.  Houghton Mifflin, 1941.  Early edition, great color, poor cover condition (stained and worn red cloth). <SOLD>

Dorothy Lyons, Dark Sunshine, 1951. Dark Sunshine by Dorothy Lyons.  Harcourt, Brace and Co. Copyright 1951. Illustrated by Wesley Dennis. Reprinted in paperback in 1965.
Sorry, it isn't Dark Sunshine. Alhtough that IS a great book. In my story, the girl is NOT a natural part of the family. She was abandonned and this ranch family took her in. She is not training for an endurance ride - in fact perhaps she had never ridden before joining this family. Dark Sunshine is great, but not the ONE! Thanks anyway - and I'm still EAGERLY hoping someone can help me.
Pagan the Black.  Found it!!!! In a great Bibliography of Horse Stories!
Tevia, Pagan the Black. I found my book in Horse Stories: The Annotated Bibliograhy of Boods for All Ages by Terri A. Wear published by The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 1987. A GREAT REFERENCE FOR HORSE BOOK LOVERS!

Check out The Painted Pig by Elizabeth Morrow and illustrated by Rene d'Harnoncourt (who also illustrated Mexicana).  I think that may be it!
Just wanted to throw in some trivia about The Painted Pig - the author was the mother of Anne Morrow
Lindbergh and the book, chillingly, was supposed to have been the first given to the Lindbergh baby. Aside
from that, it is SUCH a beautifully illustrated book and it's always been a favorite of mine. Pita's little brother, who always "likes his sister's toys better than his own" wants a piggy bank decorated just like hers, but they're constantly frustrated in their attempts to get one. He tries to mold one himself too. Finally, he settles for one that is similar but with different decorations simply because it's far better than the one he made. There are pictures of Pita
imagining she's riding her pig, and a few years ago I saw a T-shirt with one of the those pictures (her scarf's flying straight back, I think) in a record store! Can't believe I didn't buy it. One weird thing about the book was when the vendor says that air "is the worst thing for sick people" - I wish I knew where THAT idea comes from.
The Painted Pig: a Mexican picture book, by Elizabeth Morrow, illustrated by Rene d'Harnoncourt, published Knopf 1930, 32 pages "Pita and her little brother Pedro lived in Mexico. Pita had the most fascinating painted China pig, with roses on his back and a tiny rosebud on his tail. The story tells what happened when Pedro wanted that pig or one just exactly like it." (Children's Catalog 1956)

Matsuno, Masako.  A Pair of Red Clogs. This is a popular one with homeschoolers, and has recently been reprinted by Purple House Press.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Matsuno, Masako.  A Pair of Red Clogs.  Illustrated by Kazue Mizumura.  Penguin, 1960.  Purple House Press, 2002.  New hardback, $16.95

Raymond MacDonald Alden, The Boy Who Found the King:  A Tournament of Stories, 1922.  The title of the short story you're remembering is "The Palace Made by Music" (1910).  I'm guessing this is the book youre looking for, though I can't get a story list, because I can't turn up anything other collection of children's stories by him in the right time period, so I'm not as sure about the overall book identification, but I'm quite sure about the short story.
Raymond MacDonald Alden, Once There Was a King:  A Tournament of Stories, 1946. Oops!  Read that as _before_ 1936, not _after_ 1936 -- in which case this is the more likely choice.
I HAVE CONFUSED TWO STORIES - 1) WAS WHY THE CHIMES RANG AND 2) WAS THE STORY ABOUT THE BOY WHO FORMED THE ORCHESTRA - AND THAT'S THE ONE I REALLY WANT - IN THE COLLECTED STORIES EDITION.
Raymond MacDonald Alden, The Palace Made by Music, 1910.  Yeah, I figured you'd confused some details, but it's okay -- the two stories are by the same author.  This is still the one you want. 

S289 Garfield, Brian. Paladin (Based-on-fact Adventure) During World War II England's Prime Minister Winston Churchill recruits his 15-year-old neighbor to spy against the Nazis. The boy agrees, and this gripping story tells about his scary and dangerous missions. Out-of-print.
I appreciate your help so much in determing the name and author of the book I was searching for, Paladin by Brian
Garfield.  I have actually found a copy of the book, so I won't need for you to keep searching.  Thank you so much for your wonderful service!  Best wishes with your endeavor!  I'm so glad I found you!

Wilma Pitchford Hayes, Little Hawaiian Horse, 1962.  "A very handsome copy of this story of a Hawaiian rancher's son and his choice of horse." Maybe?
Armine von Tempski grew up on a ranch in Hawaii and some of her books are about ranch girls and horses in Hawaii.  She wrote in the 1940's.  Perhaps it is one of her books.
Armine von Tempski, Pam's Paradise Ranch, 1940.  This sounds like the right book .  The illustrations are done by Paul Brown and are wonderful pen and ink.

Nancy Saxon, Panky and William, 1983, copyright.  The book you're thinking of is Nancy Saxon's Panky and William (William is the horse). The hardcover was illustrated by Charles Saxon - there were two sequels: Panky in the Saddle (1984) and Panky in Love (1985), both worth checking out!
Nancy Saxon, Panky and William, 1983, copyright.  Panky (whose real name is Frances) meets a new girl at school, Katie, whose father is a groom at a riding club. Panky is overweight and likes to draw. After she starts riding, Panky is able to lose weight and gain more understanding and support from her mother. All the details match except the names.
Thanks so much!  I looked the Panky and William book up online and it totally is the same one I am thinking of.  I never knew there were sequels, so I'm way excited to read those too. :)

LC has a record for this one: Pansy Blink Eyes and Sun Dial, by Elizabeth C. Mosely, drawing by Eichner & Bank; Cincinnati: Powell & White, c1922, 61p.
The title of the book is Pansy Blinkeyes and Sundial.  I forget who you said the author was but you did find it.  Thanks in advance for all of your efforts.  Let me know if and when you find a copy.

Theodore Roosevelt Gardner, The Paper Dynasty

Jim Bottomley, Paper Projects for Creative Kids of All Ages, 1983.  This is almost definitely the book you're looking for because it's beige with red lettering and has a picture of the tree stump project on the front.

I don't know about the publication dates or if they contain a boy with a scar, but the ballet/Italy theme could match Ballet Shoes for Anna by Noel Streatfeild or Drina Dances in Italy by Jean Estoril.
Hi Harriett:  B107 is definitely not Ballet Shoes for Anna or Drina Dances in Italy.
Don't know the answer, but can say it definitely is NOT any of the Jean Estoril Drina series.
This sounds very like Rosanna Joins the Wells, by Lorna Hill.  She's an Italian little girl who goes to London to join the Sadlers Wells Ballet School.  If it is, it's pretty widely available in new paperback and 2nd hand.  And there are lots in the series to enjoy!
I just want to let you know that B107 is not Rosanna Joins the Wells.  Although it is similar to the book that I am looking for it doesn't have a boy with a scar on his face and he was a character that I remember very clearly. I think that there was a picture of him holding up a lantern with a caption that said something like "does my scar scare you?".  (very romantic in my 11 year old mind).  I borrowed the book from the Town and Country Branch of the Victoria BC library in about 1969.
Lorna Hill, Dress rehearsal, 1959.  Story of Nona who is born with cleft palette/harelip and other limb distortions brought up in hospital until operations right her limbs  then inorphanage where bullied Sees Sylvia Swan dance and wants to as well. Learns after new meeting with Sylvia and her doctor husband - who had operated originally.Sent into service  runs away and meets Vicki, daughter of Veronica and Sebastian who smuggles her into the dress rehearsal to dance in her own place in front of Veronica. Nona has op. on lip and goes to Wells.
Oops - didn't read this properly -Dress Rehearsal obviously not the right answer as it is about a girl with a scar not a boy!
just wanted to suggest that the story may start in Spain rather than Italy, because there is a fairly well known area (in Andalusia?) where the locals live in caves - many are gypsies, which might tie in with the dancing. The caves are quite dry and livable, and some have electricity.
B107 ballet and scar: if it is Spain, there's a book called No Castanets at the Wells, by Lorna Hill, published Evans 1953, 192 pages. The only plot information I have is that it's about a girl, Caroline Scott, torn between
ballet and Angelo Ibanez / Spanish dance - in 1956, Castanets for Caroline was published by Holt "A new tale of Sadler's Wells and a girl whose talent is for the Spanish dance" which seems to indicate which way she decided.
Couldn't confirm a boy and his grandmother in the book.
Sorry but it is definitely not No Castanets at the Wells by Lorna Hill. This is set in London and Northumberland.No scars on either the hero or the heroine. It is also not any of the others in the "Wells" series. I've read the lot within the last six months and not even the one about Nona comes close.
Paul Jacques Bonzon, Paquita the ballerina from Mallorca, 1958.  A boy helping a young girl, talented in some artistic way, was the theme of several of Bonzon's books. Paquita the ballerina from Mallorca may be the one required. Translated from the French and published in the USA in 1958.
Many thanks to the person who sent in the clue regarding B107.  Paquita the Ballerina from Mallorca is the book that I have been looking for all these years.
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D58: A story about a girl who danced on the back of her donkey to earn money to support herself.  It may take place in South America

Paul-Jacques Bonzon, Paquita the Ballerina from Mallorca, 1958.  D58 is Paquita the Ballerina from Mallorca.  I have a copy of the book in front of me.  The synopsis says "a little orphan girl...dances on the back of her patient and gentle burro to attract her customers".  It is also on your Solved Mysteries list.
? D58 I have this one but can't spend any more time looking for it jusst now [when there are so many stumpers to check on] to see what she does w her donkey: Wimmer, Hed; translated and adapted from German by Theodore McClintock.  Maha and her donkey.  photos by Hed Wimmer.  Rand McNally c1965.  Sahara Desert; Northern African girl and her donkey.

Story number T34 sounds just like a First Little Golden book I have, except the child is a girl, not a boy.  I'm not sure if it's the same edition, because it does have text copyright dates of 1954 and 1982.  It's called A Sleepy Story written by Elisabeth Burrowes, illustrated by Richard Brown and was published in 1982.  It begins "Once there was a little girl.  It was time to go to sleep, but she was not sleepy.  Well, maybe she was just a tiny bit sleepy."  I hope this helps.  I know it drives me crazy if I can't remember the name of a book!
T34 - I was pretty sure I knew this one until I reread the description which cites the mother as the story teller.  This book is remarkably similiar if it is not the one you're looking for. Papa's Bedtime Story by Mary Lee
Donavan has the father telling his child a story about a squirrel father who is telling his child a story about a mouse father who's telling his child a story, etc. etc.

Illus. Vivian Smith, The Paper Doll Playhouse: Full of Fun for a Nice Girl.  It was done by Hallmark and came with an envelope to mail it in.  My sister was in the hospital around 1960 and rec'd. it as a gift from a friend.  The spiral-back book opens up to make 4 rooms. Thanks! I'm very happy about finding It! 

Eilis Dillon, Dinky Donkey, 1950.  Maybe?  I don't know if the characters are the same as you remember.  Seems to be a very scarce book, published by Tuck.  36 pp., 11 x 11 cm.  "Father Tuck little book series."
Don Freeman, The Paper Party, 1974.  One of my son's favorite books when he was young. Jory and his dog Peetza are watching his favorite TV show, "The Dinky Donks" and Dinky pops through the screen and lowers a little ladder and invites Jory to visit. There is Donk the donkey, Wonk the Walrus and Wanda Witch. It snows paper confetti, and there is a party with a cake made out of paper mache with cotton for frosting. They give him a present of a dog puppet and he realizes that he misses his dog and wants to return home, he tells them he had a great time and that he has to go because he told his parents that he would be in bed by 7:00pm. They are sad to see him go, but wonder what parents are. He climbs back down the little ladder and starts to go upstairs to his room and then turns around and finds that the ladder is gone.

Yikes! Just came upon this answer while hunting for another stumper solution!! The old bear story is by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Called One Cold Day it is found in a children's anthology Parade of Stories, part of the Child Horizon set. Another in this set-The Story Hour contains Angus and the Ducks. Most, if not all, of the items are contained between these two books.
Just a quick note to thank you so much for solving our Kindly, elderly bear (K59) stumper. Now my sister and I can begin in earnest to search for these memories from our childhood. Thank you again.

Maria Edgeworth, The Parents Assistant, 1796 originally.  The story "Waste Not Want Not" was by Maria Edgeworth, originally published in her collection of children's stories, "The Parents Assistant". The book was reprinted many times.
It's also quite possible that the story has been published separately in other collections of old-fashioned children's stories.

The club is surely Parents Magazine Press.  Never Tease a Weasel is by Soule (see Most Requested).  I'm not sure of the other two right this second, and I've never seen an anthology of their books, but it could be out there.  Visit my Parents Magazine Press catalog for more by this popular publisher.
M237 Could be: Kay, Helen, One Mitten Lewis,  illus by Helen Kay.  Lothrop, 1955  OR When the twins miss a red mitten the neighborhood gets involved, soo many missing red mittens Slobodkin, Florence; Slobodkin, Louis,  Too many mittens.  il by Slobodkins    Vanguard, 1958, Weekly Reader Children¹s Book Club

I have this book!  It was published in 1982, and I got my copy at the "New York is Book Country" street fair that fall -- autographed by the illustrator.  The front cover reads Susan Perl's PARK PEEPL with Verses by Monica Bayley.   The publisher is Determined Productions, Inc.  The verses are not wonderful, but the illustrations are really cute.  The five protagonists -- a kitten, a squirrel, a bunny, a puppy and the ladybug -- provide a tour of New York's Central Park. Illustrator Susan Perl is perhaps best known for her 1970s print ads for HealthTex clothing (I remember seeing them in the NY Times Sunday magazine section), each one answering a question like "Why is the sky blue?" and featuring winsome children, most strikingly redheads.
How many titles are there in the 1960s-1970s "Peepul Pals" series and how many can you name? I remember "Betty the Ballerina", the dolls made of cloth and wire about 4" high, and a coloring book that included Goldilocks as one of the Pals. When were they made? Did one author do the books or several?
To answer a question posted under Park Peepul about the "Peepul Pals" stories---There were nine dolls and books. I want to say Whitman was the publisher, but I'm not sure. Each doll came with a little plastic "house" and book. The attic of the house had a little finger puppet, a male character to match the doll (a groom for Brenda Bride and a prince for Cinderella, for example). As I only had one and my best friend had another, I don't know if they were all written by the same person. The dolls were Goldilocks, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Mother Goose, Rock-a-Bye-Baby, Brenda Bride, Betty Ballerina, Sally Stewardess and Nina Nurse. There were also a coloring book and paper dolls as well.

These are the Jordan books by Janet Lambert (Just Jennifer, Friday's Child, etc.) now republished by Image Cascade.
Lambert, Janet, Parrish family series.  Sounds like the Parrish family - Penny, dad Major David Parrish, older brother David, younger Brother Bobby, and younger sister Andrea (Tippy).  But I remember a mother, Marjorie, and I don't remember her dying in any of the books - so maybe this isn't the right series after all.
Solved  The series is about the Parish family and I am so excited to know who the author is.  I loved these books and am going to read them again.
Janet Lambert.  Series (actually 2 or 3 series) of books by Janet Lambert, pre and post WWII.  Just Jennifer is one of them.
Janet Lambert, Alice.  Yes, this was one of the Jordan books.  But I was mixing the Jordans with the Parrish family.  The Parrish family had a Davy and also a mother.  The Jordan family didn't have a Davey but the mother had died.  I am so excited to know the author.  Thanks.

Chenault, Nell, Parsifal Rides the Time Wave, Weekly Reader 1962.  Swiped this description from elsewhere on the website: "A story with a young boy, dogs, a magical Poddley, and time travel to Scotland at the time of Robert the Bruce. Parsifal is a Poddley, strange creatures that are mildly magical and whose job it is to help unhappy children. Poddleys are little green creatures about a foot high, they wear a pith helmet and a long white nightgown with shoes or socks and a star with their # on it. When Colin's collie dog dies, Parsifal must help." I saw a copy for sale, and bizarrely enough, Parsifal's solution for Colin's unhappiness involves sending him back in time, and I believe Arthur or another king is
involved.
Chenault, Nell, Parsifal rides the time wave, 1962.  One of my favorite books!
I am quite sure this is Parsifal Rides the Time Wave by Nell Chenault (Little,Brown and Company-1962) Parsifal, of the title, is a Poddley, a little green creature who is assigned to cases of unhappy children. He is a foot high and he wears a pith helmet. The boy in the hospital is Colin MacNeill.
This is the book Thanks everyone I have been trying to find it for over 20 years.
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The book I'm looking for was one I read in the late 50s or very early 60s and the main character was a pixie, I believe.  I remember he was very tiny and wore a pith helmet that was much too big for him.

I think this might be Parsifal Rides the Time Wave by Nell Chenault.(1962) Parsifal is not a pixie- he is a Poddley (little green man about a foot high). He does, indeed, wear a pith helmet.

Not 100% sure, but there's a book titled PARSLEY SAGE, & TIME by Jane Louise Curry, 1975. The girl's name is Rosemary, so it may not be the right book, but she does travel back in time to the 18th century.
Regarding M53, Megan's Dilapidated House, there is a Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Time by Jane Louise Curry: Atheneum Publishers, 1975 about space and time.
#M53--Megan's dilapidated house:  There is a book called Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Time, about a young girl, a witch, and a cat.  The girl thinks the herb "time" is a misspelling of "thyme," till she picks it and discovers herself time traveling.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Time has a sequel published 1976, The Magical Cupboard

Kathryn & Byron Jackson, The Party Pig, 1954.  Even though my memory of the story is a little different from the requester's, I'm pretty sure this is the right book.  It's a Little Golden Book and was illustrated by Richard Scarry (before he got into the simpler and much-less-interesting line drawings).  My memory is that it was Little Pig's mother, who had not forgotten about his birthday, who went to the store to get some things she needed for the cake.  While she was out, Little Pig occupied his time by making decorations for his birthday party.  As he was doing so, various animals came to the door complaining of extreme hunger.  I remember a cat and I think a calf, but there were others as well.  I think Little Pig gave the cat a fish, gave another of the animals some eggs, another some apples, and so forth.  As each animal left, Little Pig extended an invitation to his birthday party.  When his mother returned from the store she saw that most of their food was gone, and she told Little Pig that while it was good to be generous, they now didn't have what they needed for his party.  He sat down and "cried as if his heart would break."  Then all the animals to whom he had shown kindness returned for the party, and each brought some sort of food that had been prepared using what Little Pig had provided earlier: I think the cat had a cooked fish, the calf had applesauce, etc.  So Little Pig had a wonderful birthday party after all I seem to recall a pitcure of Little Pig with a blindfold playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
Little Golden Book , The Party Pig, 1953, approximately.  This sound just like The Party Pig, a little golden book. The little pig gives away all of the food and ingredients for the cake for his birthday party to hungry animals, and his mother tells him there is nothing to make his cake for the party, so he sits down on the floor and cries as if his heart would break. Then all the animals show up on his birthday and bring cake and treats.  One line our family used to repeat from it was "Excellent," laughed the mouse.
I have seen my stumper on the list and I am sure that they have described the right book.  I am thrilled!  Thank you, and I'm sending another on your way.

Hesba Brinsmead, Pastures of the Blue Crane 1964, This is probably Hesba Brinsmead's Pastures of the Blue Crane, a coming of age story about an orphan teenage girl, Ryl Merrewether, who inherits a shack in the Tweed River region of  Australia, and goes to live there with her crusty old grandfather, gradually coming to terms with her new life, friends and family history.  This is a great book which won the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award and the Mary Gilmore Award, and is still in print.

P59 Could it be Katherine Pyle's The counterpane fairy? - very hard to get-
P59 Patchwork quilt -- Perhaps The Patchwork Quilt by Adele de Leeuw, published by Little, Brown, 1943. "Each patch in Josie's quilt has a story, funny, or odd, or nice - told gaily for young girls by an outstanding children's author. Illustrated." Ad in Horn Book, Nov-Dec/43.
The person looking for the story of the little girl and her grandmother's patchwork quilt may want to try this site listing quilts in children's fiction.
A plot description for the De Leeuw book "Nancy-Jo was getting over measles at her grandmother's house, but there was nothing at all she could do until her eyes were better. So every day she was allowed to select one patch from the quilt which covered her bed, and her grandmother told her a story about the little girl who had worn the original dress, 66 years before." Which suggests that Josie is the grandmother's name.
Thank you so much!!!  I was beginning to wonder if it was my imagination!  Yes, I would like the book if it isn't too expensive.   Please let me know if you can locate it and the price. Thank you again.

Ruth Daggett Leinhauser, Patricia's Secret,1956.  My copy is a reprint by Scholastic.  Patricia has lived with her aunts for seven years, and then goes to live with her father. They move to an Air Force base in California.
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A little girl is sent to live with her father, who is a pilot in the armed forces.  She is determined to hate him, but comes to love him (of course.) I remember her adjusting to living on the base, and one day while driving with her father, the book described how her father was such a careful driver, he would not take his eyes off the road, but pulled over to the side to talk to her.  Vague, I know!!!  Thanks!

This is on the solved mysteries page- Patricia's Secret.
Ruth Daggett Leinhauser, Patricia's Secret, c. 1960.  I read this in the mid 60's and I remember being so impressed that there was a book that used my name.  I think the title character was about 10 years old (my same age at the time) and went to live with her father who was in the Air Force stationed in California.(Same state I lived in).  I am excited to know that others remember the same book ( I bought it through Scholastic at my school) I wouldn't mind finding a copy.  Any ideas?
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Watch me daddy, here I come!, late 1970s.  This is a scholastic book also.  A young girl, 10 or so, loses her mother as a baby and her very important father in the air force leaves her to be raised in Boston by her "old aunts," where she has a lovely, quiet life growing up in a suburb of Boston in a big beautiful home with her maiden aunts.  Finally her father is transferred back to this country and decides he wants to make a life for her.  He takes her, very unwillingly, away from her safe life with her aunts and moves her to the base in California, where they will live until he can find them a house.  She refuses to call him daddy and refuses to learn to ride the bike he buys her, until one day he is gone for hours and hours after an accident has occurred on the base and she is sure he is dead.  When he finally comes in the door she goes rushing up to him, crying, "Daddy, Daddy!" and we can see she has finally accepted her life with him.  I have looked for this all over the Internet under the above title but have never found it, any help is greatly appreciated.

Leinhauser, Ruth Daggett, Patricia's Secret.  This is on the solved mysteries page.
Ruth Daggett Leinhauser, Patricia's Secret, 1956.  No doubt.  This is Patricia's Secret by Ruth Daggett Leinhauser.
What a great service!  I have been trying for years to remember the names of those books and you got them solved in a matter of days.  W178 is Patricia's Secret (I checked on the Internet and they even had one with the cover, which I remember, so I know it's the right one), F204 is The Unchosen and M325 is Marsha, thank you, thank you.  The last one, V40, sounds like Miracle on Maple Hill which I have read, but I don't think it is that one, although I want to get it from the library and double check before submitting a denial, it was a very good guess.  You have made my day, you have no idea!

F53 food on trees sounds like H6 hungry walk.
there is a book called Patrick, written and illustrated by Quentin Blake, published Walck 1969. "Astonishing things happen when Patrick plays his violin - all pictured in sparkling full color. Ages 5-8." (HB Feb/69 p.10 pub ad). "The story of a boy who buys a magic violin at a market stall, which when he plays it, creates an enchanted world of coloured fish, ice-cream trees, exotic birds and plump joyful people." Ice-cream trees may fit for the story wanted.

Opal Menius, Patsy's Best Summer. (1959)  I couldn't believe my eyes!  There in front of me was the synopsis of a children's book that I had just finished reading!  This is the story of Patsy, an impish young lady who wins a trip out west by earning the highest grade in a geography test.  She has a glorious time, but learns to accept that her chaperone would not be able to adopt her.
Opal Menius, Patsy's Best Summer.  (1959)  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  I just returned home from vacation, checked my stumper, and was tickled pink to see you had solved my request!  I remember lying on the floor and reading that book in the same position the main chracter read her story and felt that "reader's connection." One of my favorite childhood reading memories!  I can't wait to read it again! Thanks again!

Maybe one of Lynn Hall's books? The Shy Ones 1967 and Shadows 1977 have similar plots of girls who find solace from their personal troubles training a dog, though it's a golden retriever helping with intense shyness, and a blue merle collie with a mother's death, respectively.
maybe this one - Pattern for Penelope, by Mary Wolfe Thompson, illustrated by James MacDonald, published Longmans 1943, 276 pages. "A year spent with an uncle who owned and operated a modern
veterinary hospital helped Penelope Austin to decide on a career. For "the duration" (of WWII) she was to help her uncle, taking the place of his assistant who had joined the army. At the end of that time there were two
possibilities: college or marriage. A touch of romance adds to the intrinsic interest which the story holds for all girls who love dogs, and Penelope's relation to her parents in a situation which is unfortunately all too common today is handled realistically and with understanding. For older girls." (BRD 1943, p.804) A copy I saw on EBay described it as a story about a girl and an Irish setter, and the dust jacket picture showed a red-headed girl looking at a red setter. This query was also posted on the Alibris board, where it was described as taking place during WWII or shortly after. If this is the book, it may be that Penny/Penelope has to deal with being separated from her parents because of the war, rather than coping with their deaths.
I20 irish setter: if this is the same query as on the Alibris board, Pattern for Penelope was confirmed as the correct title there.

This looks very likely: Pauline and the Prince in the Wind by James Kruss, illustrated by Jochen Bartsch, published Atheneum 1966, 109 pages "A book of stories experienced or invented by a girl named Pauline who would tell them to James Kruss in exchange for candy, ice cream or other sweets. Kruss wrote them down and compiled them into this charming book. He is one of Germany's outstanding and most prolific authors for children. The stories Pauline told were varied. One was about meeting all of the months and explaining to them why May is the best month of all. Another was about meeting a prince who took her on a marvelous journey through the wind in a magic chair. And still another was about the day she was enchanted and everything tasted like gingerbread. The book contains nine different stories."

B17 - I remember a book, Peaky Beaky with the same story, with colorful ink pictures. I think it might have been a Weekly Reader book.
Here's what I found:
de Vogue, Bertrand, adaptor. Peaky Beaky.  Illustrated by Kelly Oechsli. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1967 .
Bertrand de Vogue, Peaky Beaky.  I have one copy found at garage sale in 80's.  Favorite of my daughter, now age 23.  She is hoping to acquire a copy of her own and one to give to a friend with a new baby.  We are looking...   Don't forget Little Gertrude and Mr. Kad'Itchin!!
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i dont know the name. the story is about a kingfisher family and there children.the children decide they want to different and go about changing them selves into different birds. can you help with the title

I wonder if this is Peaky Beaky, which is listed in the Solved Mysteries section.  A mother and father bird helped each of their children decide what kind of bird they wanted to be.  It was a Rand McNally picture book with very colorful illustrations.  I particularly remember one bird who ended up perched on a post in the ocean that was holding up a rope delineating the equator, like those that rope off swimming areas, because I believed it, and thought for several years that there actually was a rope delineating the equator....
de Vogue, Bertrand, Peaky Beaky, illustrated by Kelly Oechsli.   Rand McNally Tip Top Elf, 1967.  I'm going to second this suggestion. The plot description I found is "about a bird of that name who married another bird, Lumpy Tummy, and they had a whole bunch of chicks who became all different kinds of birds when they grew up, including and ostrich, stork, penguin, and kingfisher." The cover illustration shows a little house with a kingfisher looking out of the dutch door, and another bird (duck? albatross?) visible through the window. A donkey, a spider and a frog rest outside. 

Grace Paull, Peanut Butter's Slide, 1944.  "Scarce Paull book with two country boys and their goat who love to slide."

I don't have the book with me, but this reminds me of the short Evan Hunter novel Last Summer, which is
shockingly violent, does include a dead seagull and was made into a 1969 movie with Barbara Hershey, who
then for a while called herself Barbara Seagull!
S119 seagull killed: only guessing, but Gulls, by Kenneth Wood, published Dobson 1974, 192 pages, might be worth looking into. It's narrated by Cathy, looking back on her 16th year, set in the North of England, "trying
to make sense of her future with little help from her boyfriend Jack, who is tied to a pathetic, lonely mother. After she has lost a prospective job in a way that makes her doubtful of herself, she escapes into the arms of another boy, with disastrous results." (Growing Point Oct/74 p.2479)
Just wanted to confirm that it is neither Hunter's Last Summer nor Wood's Gulls, although I have appreciated these
recommendations very much.  Still a mystery!
Lillian Halegua, The Pearl Bastard, 1959.  I'm the original requester -- and -- I found it!  The book is Lillian Halegua's
The Pearl Bastard.

M187: The Peculiar Miss Pickett by Nancy R. Julian, Illustrated By Donald E. Cooke, Scholastic Book Services, 1951. Strange things happen when the baby sitter, Miss Pickett is around; like milk changing into strawberry soda, the bathtub fills up by itself, a fire suddenly stops spreading. Cover shows Miss Pickett in witch's garb riding a carpet with a boy and girl in pajamas. Kind of sappy, as I remember.
I forgot to add that there's a 1952 sequel - Miss Pickett's Secret.
Julian, Nancy, The Peculiar Miss Pickett.  All Miss Pickett needs to do to make magic happen is take off her glasses.
Nancy R. Julian, The Peculiar Miss Pickett, 1965.  "Strange things happen when the baby sitter, Miss Pickett is around
 like milk changing into strawberry soda, the bathtub fills up by itself, a fire suddenly stops spreading."  Front cover shows "Miss Picket in witch's garb riding a carpet with a boy and girl in pajamas."
Nancy R. Julian, The Peculiar Miss Pickett, 1951.  Thought this one sounded awfully familiar!  Haven't thought about it in a long time, though! "Strange things happen when the baby sitter, Miss Pickett is around  like milk changing into strawberry soda, the bathtub fills up by itself, a fire suddenly stops spreading."
Wow! You guys are awesome!  Thanks for solving this mystery.
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I read this book when I was about 7 or 8, which would make it at least 30 years old providing it was a new book when I read it.  I am really hoping someone anyone will be able to help.  I have asked several different Librarians, done Online searches with no luck.  This is my last resort...No pressure or anything, lol.  So, here it goes....  This book is about two children whose parents, unbeknownst to them, hire a babysitter with unusual powers.  Every time she comes to babysit, different strange things happen.  She always arrives carrying a suitcase and she wears thick glasses.  I remember that she always insisted on carrying her own suitcase despite the Father offering to carry it for her.  The family lived in a house with a fence around it, because I remember the Father always opening the gate when he and the babysitter arrived home.   In one incident, the  babysitter took off her classes and the little boy went up in the air and landed on the icebox as they called it.  Another strange incident happened when someone came to the house and the babysitter told them that they were told to never bother her there.  The person whispered something to her and she made the children leave the house with her.  I cannot remember exactly where they went, but for some reason I believe the sun and moon were having an arguement.  I could be way off on that part.  One part that I am absolutely positive about is another time, when the summer carnival was in town, the babysitter had to come stay with the boy because he had gotten the chicken pox.  His Mom, Dad, and Sister decided to still go and leave him home with the babysitter.  I remember that the babysitter took a hula hoop and put stuffed animals in it as if it was a circus ring.  Then she closed her eyes and took off her glassed and told the boy to put them on.  When he did all of the animals became animated and he actually got to watch the entire circus through her glasses.  When his sister got home she had brought him a balloon and when she started telling him all about the circus he told  her he had gotten to see it also!  Strange things ALWAYS happened when she took of her glasses and looked at things with her eyes open.   Sorry about the long winded description, but I am desperate to find this book and I figure the more facts I list the better my chances are of finding out what the name is!  Thank you in advance for any and all help provided!

Sounds like the Peculiar Miss Picket again.  See Solved Mysteries for more remembrances.   I have a very beat-up Scholastic paperback available... 

Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee or Now Open the Box. If the dog gets kicked out of the circus, and everyone cries, then the dog grows big enough to go back into the circus, this is definitely Little Peewee. There are several different editions. One has the dog looking a bit like a Dalmatian on its cover. 
Dorothy Kunhardt, Little Peewee the Circus Dog, or Now Open the Box, 1934, 1948. By the author of Pat the Bunny, this book was originally published as "Now Open the Box" in 1934. It was reissued as a Little Golden Book in 1948, with illustrations by Disney veteran J.P. Miller. This is probably the version you remember. It is the story of a tiny, tiny dog who is the star of the circus - until he starts to grow. When he gets too big (as in, normal dog size) he is kicked out of the show. Little do they know, though, that Peewee has only started to grow... and grow... and grow...
SOLVED: Dorothy Kunhardt, Pee Wee the Circus Dog or Now Open the Box, 1948. Found the book --so excited to share it with my grandchildren and only hope they love it as I did.  thank you so much.

Anna Andrews, The Peggy Lee Stories for Girls. (1937) Could this be the Peggy Lee books (see stumpers O-P).Peggy Lee lives on a coffee plantation and has various adventures. Titles:  Peggy and Michael of the Coffee Plantation, Peggy Lee of the Golden Thistle Plantation, Peggy Lee and the Mysterious Islands and Peggy Lee, Sophomore.

The author is the English cartoonist Thelwell; his books about horses include Penelope, A Leg at each Corner, and Angels on Horseback.
you solved my stumper! thanks so much. do you know offhand if the books are still available?

Hi - I am looking for books (I believe originated in the United Kingdom) that are probably over 40 years old.  All I can remember is that they were stories about the Thelwell ponies, which were overweight, hairy, obstinate little
ponies that were cute and funny.  I have nieces and nephews now that I know would enjoy these stories. If you have any info on these adorable books.  Thank you for your help
Thank you for your e-mail inquiry.  I'm happy to offer a copy of Thelwell's Complete Guide to Equitation, featuring those plump, obstinate ponies you mentioned:
Thelwell, Norman. Thelwell's Complete Guide to Equitation: A Leg at Each Corner.  E.P. Dutton & Co., 1962, 1973.  Dustjacket (now in protector) looks to have faded a bit.  Previous owner's inscription on front loose endpaper.  Otherwise, this is a bright, clean copy.  VG+.  $18

A186 There is an Uncle Wiggily and the alligator  - but I doubt if it is that.
This is only a possible lead. The owner of this website has this to say from 1992:  The Terrible Tiger by Jack Prelutsky (aloud to Tony) [This was one of my favorite picture books as a kid and when my school closed and had a booksale, I made sure to buy it. Alas, someone else had already acquired the one about avocados and how they should be referred to as alligator pears]" Granted, this is not a guarantee that the 'one about avacados' was also by Prelutsky, but it's a clue.
Shirley Boccaccio, Penelope and the Mussels, 1971.  This has got to be it - Penelope and the Mussels (subtitled: A Feminist Children's Book Dedicated to the Liberation of Children - maybe that's why you remember an "activist" theme)!  I actually don't remember the avocado part - it's been a LONG time since I read it - but I do remember Penelope and her brother Charlie, and the mussel feast, and the homemade-looking book jacket, and the groovy pen-and-ink drawings.  Penelope and her brother were actually depicted as photographs - Penelope has 2 long blonde ponytails and wore cool aviator goggles.  That was an awesome book - and good luck, it is very hard to find now!

no more information, but could this be the same book as mentioned in W157: WWII carousel horse?
What a joy to find your site.  I have a few answers for you.  One is for C287.  Penny and the White Horse by Margery Bianco and Marjory Collison, illustrated by Janina Domananska in Best in Children's Books. This book also featured Lassie Come-Home, Rumpelstiltskin, The Three Little Pigs, and The Poppy Seed Cakes.  I loved Penny and the White Horse, and was born in 1955, so am delighted to be able to share the name with the person who was born in 1958 who has been looking for the story about a beloved carousel pony.

About the request concerning a character named Jonathan Percival Pinkerton, Junior: the book is A Penny for Candy, by Louise Lawrence Devine and illustrated by Nell Reppy, c.1946 by Rand McNally. It is smaller than a Golden Book, 6 5/8" by 5", with a shiny red cover and a picture of a small boy wearing a blue cap and blue-striped sweater and licking a yellow lollipop. On the back is a picture of a penny. In it, Jonathan finds a penny in the grass, sets off to the candy store to spend it, and collects a lengthening line of friends to accompany him. One by one, they too all find pennies. But when they reach the store, everyone's pockets are mysteriously empty! Jonathan's dad discovers the distraught little group and solves the mystery: "Have you been jumping up and down and turning somersaults. . .?" Yes, they have, and the same penny had been found and then lost again by each of them. It's a well-paced cumulative tale with a strong rhythm. This story is a wonderfully "tellable" tale and too good to die!
Thanks so much for your wonderful site!  I have the answer to a question posed to you.  They asked about a book they read in the 1950’s with a character named Jonathan Percival Pinkerton, Jr.  I recognized the name right away, and my mother found the book in her collection.  The book is called A Penny for Candy, was written by Louise Lawrence Devine, and was published by Rand McNally in 1946.  Nell Reppy illustrated the story and Marge Opitz illustrated the cover.  Other memorable characters in the book are Martha Elizabeth, Buster and Bonnie the Twillinger twins, and Punch (who was really named Edward).
Thank you for remembering me, but I did find the book at an antique mall. I will remember your services in future.
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I just remember I loved this book and it was about a boy walking along and find change (nickles or dimes or pennies) in the grass.  I guess it fasinated me because at that time I would have loved to have found money too....  Can't remember boys's name or must else about the book.  Can you help?

#N21--Nickel or shiny pennies:  Can't seem to find it now, but there was a Junior Elf or Whitman Tell-a-Tale type book on the Solved list about kids who lost their pennies turning cartwheels in the grass and then had to go
back and find them.  I don't think it was Five Pennies to Spend.  The other two change-finding incidents I can think of are in Eleanor Estes's Moffats books, Jane finds a penny and gives it to "the oldest inhabitant" in
The Moffats, and in another book, probably Rufus M. Rufus finds fifty cents frozen to the sidewalk and has to chop it out of the ice.
The other book you're remembering is A Penny for Candy, by Louise Lawrence Devine, Rand McNally, 1946, featuring a character named Jonathan Percival Pinkerton, Junior.
This sounds like Penny for Candy, from the Solved list.
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Hello, I just found your website on my google search.  I was looking for info on a book I had in the 50s when I was a little girl.  It was about a boy named Jonathan Percival Pinkerton, Jr.  I found something about it on the search page, but nothing at your website.  Can you help me?
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At last!  Thanks for your great website.  I now know the book is A Penny for Candy by Louise Lawrence Devine.  I loved this book so much as a child that my mother called me "Percival Pinkerton Junior" for short!  I now know it was about finding money and THAT was my favorite occupation as a child!  Thanks so much.

Could be Beany Malone by Lenora Mattingly Weber.  See Most Requested Books.
I love the Beany books too (my daughter is now into them), but they are not an army family and don't move anywhere that I remember, so that doesn't sound too close.
Janet Lambert, Penny Parrish series, 1940s.  Beany Malone isn't right--the Malones lived in Denver and the Father was a newspaperman called Martie. Penny Parrish's dad was in the Army, taught at West Point and the family moved quite a bit in her series.  She wrote about 6 different series and several dealt with this theme.
It's not the Beany series - Beany's dad wasn't in the military, and they didn't move.  Possibly one of Janet Lambert's - also republished by Image Cascade, so you could check descriptions on their web site.
This sounds a lot like Janet Lambert's Just Jennifer. Large army family, father who's away a lot, and no mother. Jennifer has to handle everything.
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About a West Point family in 1940s WWII. Sons went to West Point and daughter performed on Broadway.  It was a series I read as a teen.

Sounds like the Penny Parrish series by Janet Lambert again.  Check Solved Mysteries for more.
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Teen named Carole (Carol?) visits friend Penny and brother (David?) who live on an Army Post (Father is Commander) in Midwest? Horse riding and dances. Carle gets injured because of a jealous girl. Book was read in the late 50's or early 60's. Can't remember the name of the book or the author.

Janet Lambert, Star Spangled Summer, 1941.  This book is Star Spangled Summer by Janet Lambert, first in her Penny Parish series....fairly available used, and back in print in softcover too! "Carrol Houghton spends the summer with Penny Parrish and her warm and happy family at Fort Arden in Kansas. Never has Carrol enjoyed herself so! Penny shows Carrol the fun and adventures of life on a military base during a star-spangled summer."
Janet Lambert, Penny Parrish series of 6 books:  Star Spangled Summer, Dreams of Glory, Glory Be, Up Goes the Curtain, Practically Perfect, and The Reluctant Heart
Janet Lambert, Star Spangled Summer, 1941.  This is the first book of the Penny Parish series.
Janet Lambert.  This is the Parrish family series again.  Carrol, Penny's best friend, is prominent in the first three books.   I think the first one, Star Spangled Summer, is the correct book since Carrol is spending the summer with the Parrishes in Fort Arden, Kansas.  The second book, Dreams of Glory, takes place between the Parrishes home in West Point and Carrol's New York penthouse.  The third, Glory Be, has Penny celebrating her 18th birthday shopping in New York before Pearl Harbor.
Book Stumpers, Oh my goodness, so quickly solved. That's the title for sure (Star Spangled Summer).  I was surprised that it was a series and that there were other books I had not read. Thank you all for your help. Harriett, this is the best site on the web!!!
Janet Lambert, Star Spangled Summer, 1941.  This book is the first of a series about the Parrish family.  Carrol Houghton visits Penny Parrish at Ft. Arden, Kansas just before WWII.  Penny's brother David is aloof, but likes Carrol.  Louise makes trouble.  These books are somewhere in Solved Mysteries, I believe.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Lambert, Janet.  [see more on the Back in Print page] Star Spangled Summer. E.P. Dutton, 1941.  Image Cascade, 2002.  New paperback, $12.95 Dreams of Glory.  E.P. Dutton, 1942.  Image Cascade, 2002.  New paperback, $12.95 Glory Be!  E.P. Dutton, 1943.  Image Cascade, 2002.  New paperback, $12.95 Up Goes the Curtain. E.P. Dutton, 1946.  Image Cascade, 2002.  New paperback, $12.95 Practically Perfect. E.P. Dutton, 1947.  Image Cascade, 2002.  New paperback, $12.95 Reluctant Heart.  E.P. Dutton, 1950.  Image Cascade, 2002.  New paperback, $12.95

I vividly remember this story!!  I can see the illustration of the grocer as he counted the bags (black and white line drawings). The boy returned bags for a penny and would either buy soda or a chocolate bar.  This particular day he had several bags and was just one penny short so he included a bag with a hole (I believe the grocer filled the bags with flour).  He strategically placed the bag near the bottom of the pile so the grocer would miss it when he held them up to check for holes. The grocer stopped one bag short of the holey bag.  Then the soda and candy made the boy sick because he was so guilty about cheating.  I don't remember the resolution, but I'm sure he confessed.  I remember reading this repeatedly, so this might be a short story in an anthology I owned.  I will
check thru my numerous story collections  I'm pretty sure this was a short story, not a book.
L33 is A Penny's Worth of Character by Jesse Stuart.
More on the suggested title - A Penny's Worth of Character, by Jesse Stuart, illustrated by Robert Henneberger, published by Whittlesey House 1954, 64 pages. "The story of Shan, who when he returned paper sacks to the storekeeper was tempted to accept a penny each for the ten sacks when only nine were reusable. How Shan struggled with his problem and solved it will not easily be forgotten. Ages 7-11." (Horn Book Oct/54 p.370 pub.ad) 

Henderson, Zenna, Pilgrimage: The Book Of The People, 1961, copyright. These are almost certainly Zenna Hendersons books about The People.  One is Pilgrimage  another is The People: No Different Flesh.  There are also several collections of Henderson short stories about The People
Zenna Henderson, Ingathering:  The Complete People Stories. As I remember, these refugees tended to be isolationist because they feared reaction to their abilities. I dont recall which particular story you are describing, but this definitely sounds like one of them. The stories were orginially published separately and then collected in two books called "Pilgrimage" and "No Different Flesh" before being put into this one volume.
Zenna Henderson, The People: No Different Flesh, 1968, approximate. There were several books by Zenna Henderson about "The People", aliens who lived an almost Amish-style existence but were refugees from another planet.  They were gentle, peace-loving people who had powers such as mind-reading and flying.  However, to escape detection, flying was banned, and so was music, as to hear music was to cause one to fly.  I loved these books!
Zenna Henderson, Ingathering, 1995, copyright.There is an article about Zenna Henderson on Wikipedia and another about the People. There is also a big fan page about her and her work. It is probably easiest to find copies of the Ingathering anthology which has all of the People stories together including ones she never published. The original anthologies are Pilgrimage and No Different Flesh - one story also appeared in her general anthology Holding Wonder. A film was made in 1972 and there are clips from it on Youtube. You will probably get many responses to this query!
Zenna Henderson. These sound like a series of books and short stories by Zenna Henderson about The People.  The books include: "Pilgrimage: The Book of the People", "The People: No Different Flesh", "The People Collection", and "Ingathering: The Complete People Stories"
Zenna Henderson, The People stories, 1950s & early 60s, approximate. The People stories are about an alien race with psychic powers, most living in Cougar Canyon, a small isolated settlement.  The stories were collected in two books, the first is called Pilgrimage: The Book of the People and the second is The People: No Different Flesh.
Zenna Henderson, Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson. Definitely sounds like The People. I dont remember that particular incident but there were a lot of different stories of a group of humanoids with psychic abilities such as telepathy, empathy, levitation etc.
Zenna Henderson, The People stories. To the poster of the P443 stumper:  the author of The People stories that you read was Zenna Henderson.  She wrote many short stories about The People and I believe they were eventually collected into a single volume or possibly several volumes. The stories were beautifully written.  The cream of science fiction. Have no idea why they werent made into a movie.
Zenna Henderson, Pilgrimage, The Story of the People. Zenna Hendersons short stories about The People were brought together into two anthologies PILGRIMAGE and NO DIFFERENT FLESH which were then put together by NESFA Press as INGATHERING with a couple of late short stories written after the original anthologies.  Im quite sure that this is the book you are looking for.

Zenna Henderson, The People. Thank you so much to those who responded. These are definitely the stories I remember. My library has a copy of the 1995 collection, so I'm going to check it out tomorrow.

written by Lorna Wood, illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe, published by Dent: People in the Garden 1954, 127 pages Bill Pettigrew, student magician, and his family, his cat and the Witch Dowsabell, with whom 8 year old Caroline has adventures.  or Rescue by Broomstick 1956, 124 pages, reprinted in paperback 1967 as The Hag Calls for Help: The Hag helps Cousin Albert with the test to gain his inheritance, against the machinations of the awful Mrs. Woollcott-Evans and her Gardener, George.  Seven League Ballet Shoes 1959, 115 pages The Giant Flounderbore, the Hag's nephew, joins Janet Lindley's ballet class when she is sent to boarding school.  Hags on Holiday 1960, 103 pages The Lindley children visit a stern maiden aunt in Wales while the Hag stays in a cave with two old friends. Magic helps the aunt find happiness. Hag in the Castle 1963, 110 pages The Hag and the Lindley family visit the Hag's aunt Matty Liptrot's castle and discover Robin Hood and his outlaws still alive Hags by Starlight 1970, 180 pages couldn't find a plot description I think there's another called something like The Sand Witches There but haven't found the record yet.
Wood, Lorna, The Hag Calls for Help.  London, Dent 1957.  Should be this, or another in the series: "another adventure
with the Hag Dowsabel, her cohorts, and the Lindley children."

Sure it wasn't the LGB titled Nurse Nancy?
Gina Ingoglia Weiner, Pepper Plays Nurse. (1964)  The description of the illustration of junk falling out of the closet rang my bell!  Pepper has her nurse kit and outfit in a box on the closet shelf and spills a lot of toys getting it out.  She first tries to nurse her dog, then a black cat who's expecting kittens.  She converts her wagon to an ambulance by painting and attaching signs to it.  Other patients include a sneezing duckling and a friend's rabbit.  Pepper's parents tell her she can take care of animals, but out in the tool shed, not in the house, please!  I still have this Little Golden Book in pretty good shape . . . good luck, I hope you can find one of your own!
This is it! This is it! Tears came to my eyes; yes, it was PEPPER, not GINGER. I'm not much use in the kitchen) Thank you to the wonderful person who solved my stumper.

I was doing a little investigating and think it may have been either an Elf book, A Wonder Book, or a Ding Dong School Book. I think it was approximately five inches by five inches in size. Perhaps this might ring a bell.

P30 is called just Peppermint.  Unfortunately, we don't own this one,  I found it at the doctor's office about three
months ago and  I read it to my child there.  It is an older, smaller book which I also read it as a child.  I do know that the little girl's name is Barbara.
Could this be  Dorothy Grider, Peppermint (Merrigold Press, '66)? about a kitten; don't know whether it's the right one.
Oh! I think it is! The name Barbara definately rings a bell!! Any chance you could send me the doctor's
office name and city and I could contact them about buying it? (Of course I'd be delighted to pay a  finder's fee.) Or any chance it could be bought from them through you? I think it is the book, and it would mean so much to me to have a copy. I'm going to be in Cleveland from July 21st through the 30th, and also in August. I'm looking forward to seeing your store. Thanks so very much.
I have found a copy for you!  It's not in excellent shape, but it is intact, and the one you so fondly remember!
Dorothy Grider.  Peppermint.  Racine, Wisc.: Merrigold Press, 1966. 2nd Edition, Paperback, Good, Creasing to the cover. No marks or tears.  <SOLD>
I will be delighted to get the book!  Will you hold it for me?
So she came into the store in person (and she doesn't live in Cleveland, but I guess she was passing through), and told me tales about this blue cat and her dreams about blue cats.  Now she is an artist, and she says that some of her work features animals in unusual colors, particularly blue cats, and that it all stemmed from the childhood memory of this little book...
I've really enjoyed owning the book Peppermint, which I got from you on the last trip. The image of the cat in the bath looking doubtfully at the bubbles cracks me up, not to mention the wary side glance the little girl and the kitten give each other upon introduction. Thank you for the great memory, and Happy Holidays!
I wanted to mention that I discovered that this was the "kitten in bluing" book I had inquired about by finding it in your Solved Mysteries section.  What a neat story about the other woman who was searching for it!
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A little girl and her mother adopt a dirty grayish stray kitten, which becomes entangled in one mishap after another, culminating in falling into a tub of bluing.  After a thorough bath, she goes to a neighborhood pet show, and the beautiful bluish-white kitty  wins the grand prize.

Dorothy Grider, Peppermint
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I don't know when it was published, but I had it in the 1970's.  All I can remember is that a little girl had a white kitten that got bathed in laundry blueing.  This book made a big impression on me, and was one of many stolen from me and my sister at the laundromat many years ago.

Dorothy Grider, Peppermint, 1966.  This was one I requested a couple of years ago.
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White, sad kitten has no owner and I think she sleeps in a coal bin or somewhere that she gets dirty.  She gets adopted by someone -  possibly the owner of a small grocery story, who loves her and cleans her up.  I think it ends with the kitten having a pink or red bow in  her hair and looking beautiful.  It is a short book with colored drawings.  The date was the late 50s-early 60s.  I remember the color red associated with the cover.

Isn't this Peppermint again?  I know I remember this story...maybe I'm mixing it up with Peppermint.
Dorothy Grider, Peppermint, 1966.  Check Solved Mysteries for the synopsis.  Even though the details are not exact, it
sounds suspiciously similar.
L51 FYI- today I stumbled on the Grider book in an older anthology: BIG BIG story book  Whitman #1683 c1955  No author  bright red cover with childen and animals and calliope [?] approaching joyously
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I am trying to identify a children’s book involving kittens. The book involved at least three kittens with names like chocolate drop, lollipop, lemondrop (or similar ‘-op’ names). There may have been a fourth kitten. The kittens live in a shop/store run by a man (elderly?). My recollection is that the store was a small mom-and-pop type general store. I think the cats lived under the shop counter or in the back room. At some point a little girl in a dress talks to the owner about the kittens - perhaps she was looking to adopt one or all of them? My memory is unclear about the outcome, but the cats ‘-op’-type names are stuck in my mind since my sister and I named our first kittens after some of the characters of this story, esp. chocolate drop! I read this book (or had it read to me) by the time I was 5 (in 1975), but have no idea when it was originally published. There were illustrations along with the text.

Peppermint.  Peppermint was the name of the last kitten, and it's the title of the story.
Peppermint.  I have this book,  but unfortunately it's in a box at my parent's house. I can't tell you the author, but I do remember that the title is "Peppermint". The mama cat is the only pet of a man who runs a candy store. All of the kittens are named after the candies theysell there. Pepermint is the runt of the litter, and when the old man decides that they have to get rid of the kittens, he gives them to kids in the neighborhood who come in to the candy store. One by one the cats find homes, all but Peppermint. They decide to give her a bath and make her super fluffy and pretty, but she falls in to a tub of lye(?)...well, something that turns her blue. In the end, she goes home with a little girl who could not possibly love her more. sigh...
Dorothy Grider  Illustrated by Raymond Burns, Peppermint.  A Whitman Tell-a-Tale book.  It is about a cat named Candy who lives in Mr. Dobby's candy store and has 4 kittens:  Lollipop, Chocolate Drop, Caramel, and Peppermint.  Peppermint was white and thin and not as pretty as the others so she wasn't bought by a child. Later Mr. Dobby gave her away to a poor child who entered her in a cat show at school.  When her mother washed Peppermint to get ready for the show she fell into a pan of bluing and turned blue.  They put a pink ribbon on her and she won the show.
Peppermint: Yes, that is the book!! Thank you all so much!
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I'm looking for a children's book about a little gray kitten born in a grocery store (I think) and all of the other kittens find homes but this one little gray kitten. There is going to be a pet show and this little boy doesn't have a kitten so the store owner says he only has one kitten left the little gray one. So the boy and his mother take it home and give it a bath and put a pink ribbon on it and the kitten is really WHITE and wins at the pet show. I remember it from when I was a kid (born in 1974) and it was an old book then. I would really like to find one. Can anyone help me?

It's possible that your memory can't cope with the idea that the kitten was really blue... after the bath, that is:  a white kitten who falls into the laundry blueing.  General store and pet show prize are all part of the story, although I think the protagonist is a little girl, not a little boy.  Dorothy Grider, Peppermint.  Racine, Wisc.: Merrigold Press, 1966.  See Solved Mysteries for more reminisciences.
Thank you so much for your help.  This website is a great service. I actually found a copy of the bookand already bought it as an early Christmas gift to myself.  Happy Holidays!
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a book that was read to me in the mid- to late 80s but might be a little older...about a little girl who adopts a white kitten out of a box of kittens of all different colors...somehow the kitten gets dunked in blue dye and wins a contest of some sort.  might be a little golden book, i'm not sure.

We just had this one last week (see G280)!  It's Peppermint by Dorothy Grider.  More on the Solved Mysteries page, too. 

The Perfect Pancake by Virginia Kahl A "goodwife" makes wonderful pancakes, but will only give one per person, but a beggar tricks her so he can eat more. It's a story in rhyme.
Re The Perfect Pancake - yes, that's it. It was in my 3rd-grade textbook and the clever happy ending was removed, I'm quite sure - the only purpose being to use it as an moralistic example of mob cruelty vs. the underdog. (I remember the book asking "What do you think the beggar felt like when all the townspeople gathered to laugh at him?")
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This book was read to my Kindergarten class in 1962-1963.  I think it was a picture book, and I'm pretty sure it was in verse.  The premise was that a woman in a town made perfect pancakes, but she'd only give one to a person, no matter how much anyone begged.  A stranger came to town and hoodwinked her by pretending each time he got a pancake that it was pretty good but that there was some slight defect.  After he'd eaten his fill, he announced that, in fact, each one had been perfect, and then went on his way, much to the astonishment of the cook and the townsfolk.  I don't have a clue as to title or author.

P105: The Perfect Pancake by Virginia Kahl - see Solved Mysteries. .

Perfecting Your Language
The 8th-grade grammar textbook we used at Whittier School in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1964-65 had a nubbly green cover. (It wasn't new, so it was likely published or available in the 1950s.) The shade was akin to Depression-era green—a dusty medium green. It was a broad book, as I recall, almost square, with two or more columns of text on each page. It had distinctive humorous halftone illustrations—cartoons, you could say. The details of the illustrations were skillfully done in grays without black outlines. One that I recall exemplified the admonition to the writer to stick to the topic and not get carried away—it portrayed a space traveler sticking to the mission, ignoring curious anthropomorphized planets who are trying to lead the traveler astray.

There were numerous "practice" passages printed in capitals with little or no punctuation. There might be periods, but nothing else. The student would have to copy them and provide proper punctuation and capitalization. The authors had taken care to make the passages absorbing. There was one humorous sequence, done like a comic strip. A bunch of cowboys are having supper. One cowboy, "Red," says to another, "Slim, shoot me the potatoes!" Slim promptly shoots Red, to the horror of the others. He is arrested and brought before a judge, who pronounces the sentence: "Life in prison—and that's not too harsh a punishment for someone who doesn't understand the difference between a direct and indirect object!" I am not remembering exactly. Egads, how I miss that book.

SOLVED: Paul McKee et al., Perfecting Your Language, 1951. The book I was seeking is "Perfecting Your Language," the last book in the "Language for Meaning" series, by Paul McKee, John E. Blossom, Clarence Stratton, and Prudence T. Lamphear. It is an entertaining journey through American English and 1950s American culture. (A not-too-surprising lack of ethnic diversity, too.) The humorous twist on teaching and illustrating good usage made this book unforgettable.

I've had other requests for this title, but I've never been able to even track down the author.  Who knows it?
I've done some library database searches and turned up nothing so far. I'm wondering if this was part of an anthology. I'm also wondering if Sylvia (whose name means 'forest') might be a DRYAD (tree spirit) rather than a
DRUID (pre-Roman British religious order, probably all male) because I don't see why a priestess would have to sleep through the winter whereas a supernatural creature might.
#W43--Why the Maple Leaves Turn Scarlet:  I vaguely...VAGUELY..think I may have seen a version of this story in one of the "Beacon Readers."  Another reason I'd like to compare notes with an owner of older "Beacon Readers."  Anyhow, just did a search under "Beacon Reader" at www.addall.com, and learned that besides the regular readers they did several anthologies of folk tales and so on...one of which this might...just MIGHT...be in.  Anyhow, it's the best lead you've had so far.
Not my stumper, but I was intrigued, so I looked at the Beacon Readers online.  I found two folk tale anthologies - Folk Tales and Fancies, and Seven Proud Sisters.  I checked with the booksellers and neither contains this story.  Perhaps there are other Beacon Readers worth checking.
#W43:  Why the Maple Leaves Turn Scarlet:  Another Beacon Reader is called Clever Folk, but I don't know if it's folk tales and can't guarantee whether I saw this story in  Beacon Reader or another old school reader.
I have finally solved this one, with some assistance from a very patient children's librarian!  The book Perhaps and Perchance: Tales of Nature contains a story called The Scarlet Maple which is about a dryad named Sylvia.  The compiler of the book is Laura Cathon, and the author of the story is Mary Curtis.

E89  I'm sure you are thinking of THE PERILOUS GARD by Elizabeth Marie Pope, 1974 and republished since. The sisters are Alicia and Kate Sutton, and Kate is lady-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth. Because of a letter that Alicia sends to Queen Mary, Kate is punished by being exiled to Elvenwood, an isolated castle or gard. She does end up going undergound, to the world of the "elves" who are an old sect of Druids, and the crushing claustrophobia of being underground is described. The story is interesting because it shows how certain real things could have been the basis for folklore. This is one of my favorite books.~from a librarian
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Perilous Gard,  1974.  Definitely The Perilous Gard.  In 1558, Kate is sent to the mysterious castle of Perilous Gard with her new guardian.  Once she reaches the castle, she learns that his daughter has disappeared down a well, and her guardian's brother, Christopher Wren, claims he's responsible.  Christopher (I think he's called Kit?) is taken by the fey folk, and Kate follows to rescue him.  It's actually a bit of a retelling of Tam Lin.
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Perilous Gard.  A few details are mixed up, but that will make the re-read all the better!
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Perilous Gard.  This is it for sure!  A really good book and definitely worth a read.
Elizabeth Marie Pope, Perilous Gard.  Wondeful book!
Almedingen, E M, The Crimson Oak, 1983.  This is the only one I could find with Princess Elizabeth and 'oak'.  It's publication date fits in your time frame but the description doesn't really fit - "Peter, a Russian peasant boy, twelve years old in the year 1739 and full of dreams, chances to cross paths with the exiled Princess Elizabeth and comes to realize his fate is linked to hers."
Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Perilous Gard, 1974, reprint.  YES, that IS the book I have been looking for since my teens. The mystery took only 3 days to solve after being posted on the website. To the readers who supplied the answer:  Thank you!!!!

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Pope, Elizabeth Marie. The Perilous Gard.  Illustrated by Richard Cuffari.  Houghton Mifflin, 1974, 2001.  A Newbery Honor Book.  New paperback with new cover art by Cynthia Von Buhler, $5.95

Bruce Carter a.k.a. Richard Alexander Hough, (The Perilous Descent) Into a Strange Lost World,  1952.  This is just a maybe, but it certainly seems to fit.  Description: "Juvenile-young flyers find a 17th Century English cavern world"  The 'Perilous Descent' part of the title was what it was published as first in London.  The American title was just Into a Strange Lost World.
John Beynon, The Secret People, 1935.  Set in 1964, "The Secret People" takes us to a place intruders never leave. After Mark Sunnet's rocket plane crashes in the Sahara Desert, which is being turned into a "New Sea" by France and Italy in a monumental feat of engineering, he and his girlfriend Margaret find themselves prisoners of a people determined to keep their existence secret. Hence the title of this book.  These short-statured people (who resemble white pygmies) dwell in an underground network of vast caves and are, on the face of it, mired in primitivism. The caves are lit by luminous globes of
unknown power, suggesting that this civilization was once highly developed technologically but is now long past its time of glory. While Margaret and her cat become a focus of worship, Mark is thrown in with the other prisoners. These are people of various nationalities who were unfortunate enough to stray into the pygmie's domain over the years - destined to live out their lives subsisting on the fungus of giant mushrooms which grow in the caves. While many are slumped in apathy, some of the captives have preserved their sanity by working on an escape tunnel. The rising water levels have heightened the sense of urgency.
Bruce Carter, The Perilous Descent.  I can confirm that the description sounds very like Bruce Carter's The Perilous
Descent. Bruce Carter is the pen-name of the English writer Richard Hough. His story concerns two R.A.F. pilots who land on a sand-bank in the North Sea. When they finally re-emerge from the "other world" they are in South America. 

The twins books you asked about are a popular series written by Lucy Fitch Perkins. I have quite a few in stock:
The Pioneer Twins. 1927. First edition, corners bumped. G+ <SOLD>
The Dutch Twins. 1911. Corners bumped. G- <SOLD>
The Puritan Twins. 1921. G+ $20ppd The Mexican Twins. 1915. First edition. <SOLD>
The American Twin of the Revolution. 1926. Spine ends frayed. G. <SOLD> 

Felix Salten, Perri.  Best known for his books about deer, Salten also wrote this one about a squirrel.  It was adapted into a live-action Disney movie in the 1950s.
I checked Disney version of Salten's Perri and it is all color photos of how squirrels live.  And it is not Ridlon's Lightning strikes twice: Mama, Papa and Milkweed Woodsey lose their home to lightning, and feel an earthquake under their new one; optimism is the key,but names don't match Stumper.  cute illus by Cyndy Szekeres

A Pet at the Zoo, 1965. I am sure that you are looking for A Pet at the Zoo.  This is a Whitman Big Tell-a-Tale book, published in 1965.  I have a copy of my own somewhere, just to be sure I Googled it and saw a copy for sale on the internet. The cover is the same as I remembered it. Hope this helps!

This is a slightly garbled description of Don & Lydia Freeman's wonderful Pet of the Met, whose mouse protagonist, Maestro Petrini (father of the 3 little Petrini's: Doe, Ray, & Mee), is the page turner for the prompter at the old Met. His nemesis is the house cat, Mefisto, who hunts down Maestro Petrini during a performance of The Magic Flute, only to be charmed at the last moment by Papageno's flute. And they all live happily ever after. My first copy came from my godfather, who was technical director of  New York City Opera.
A thousand thank-yous!  It was indeed Lydia Freeman's Pet of the Met and I have an extremely happy patron!  Thank you for making me look so good!  I'm sure we will be visiting your site often.

Clevin, Jorgen , Pete's first day at school (1973) This must definitely be the solution to E86 and it could be the solution to E94.  The cover shows Johnny and Pete - and Pete is a regular large elephant, so his size could have come into the story. Pete, the elephant, has happy experiences on the first day of school. "Johnny and Pete live at number 14 Flower Street. Where do you live? Shall we say hello to them? That red knob is the doorbell. Press it with your finger and say : dingalingaling."  Pete the elephant goes to school for the first time. Reader answers questions at each stop-light. Final story page has a 'blank' TV screen with a message seen only when held up to the light !Cover is indeed white as remembered'
I can't believe it but I believe this is Pete's first day of school is the answer to E86.  I never thought I would find it.  And then another poster helped with additional clues. Thank you so much!  NOw I am trying to purchase the book.  I have now found 2 of 5 books I have been searching for!

I was interested in P2 in your stump column. I have it packed away somewhere in the attic, but haven't a hope of finding it to get the information.  I kind of thought it was called Prudence and Peter, but have not found that listing.  I did check the LC catalog, but found nothing.  The book I remember has a colored picture pasted on the cover, which is a kind of goldish brown buckram, if my memory is correct, but who knows.  For some reason we had it out to get some ideas when we were planning the highschool senior prom (1952).  I can't remember if we actually used it or not.  We do not have a very good public library, so I would not expect to find it there.
I think I identified P2 after thinking a little more.  I checked the LC catalog again and got Peter and Prue by Mary Dickerson Donahey  pictures by Harold Gaze. Chicago, Rand, McNally  1924.
I'm doing some personal research for fun on "Octavia" on the 'net. Picked up this link -- thought you (or whoever requested) might be interested... just noticed this book on sale on Ebay. Robins, Eliz. & Octavia Wilberforce. PRUDENCE & PETER & THEIR ADV W/ POTS & PANS. c.1928 kids

Could this be Peter Churchmouse by Margot Austin?  There's also a Churchmice series by Oakley, but I think it's the former.
Thank you very much for the quick response.  Re Peter Churchmouse. I am really not sure.  I have seen references to it on your site.  I really dont remember the character of Peter.  Am looking for that refrain "Say it again..."  which my mother and I both remember.  If you get a copy of Peter Churchmouse, i would be interested in the opportunity to purchase it.
#W62--Willy Churchmouse:  While searching for the answer to my church mouse stumper, which turned out to be the exceedingly rare Cheerful; a picture-story, by Palmer Brown, I compiled a large list of church mouse
titles and read some of the Margot Austin and Graham Oakley series.  There is also a Thursday series by Michael Bond.  Most of those I found should be listed on the solved page under Cheerful, and I'm not even sure that's all of them.
Austin, Peter Churchmouse. This is definitely Peter Churchmouse.  He recites poetry, and it is his friend, Gabriel Churchkitten, who could "listen, and listen, and listen."  There's also a dog character in at least one of the stories whose name, I believe, is Trumpet, and another character named Parson Peaseporridge.  Growing up in the '60's in the New York area we even saw animated versions of the stories on T.V. from time to time that, as I recall, were actually quite faithful to the original stories and illustrations.

1950-60's. I had a book once that featured a cat, mouse and friar which was always centered in an old church. I seem to think it was a British book but can't be sure. The characters were all chubby and fuzzy looking line drawings. It was printed in black an black and white with occasional single color kind of like the Eloise illustrations. It may have been part of a series. I was born in 1953 and was able to read it on my own which seems to suggest I had it in the late fifties, early sixties although the book itself was old and used looking.

Margot Austin, Peter Churchmouse, 1940s, approximate. Is it Margot Austin's books?  I remember reading Peter Churchmouse and Gabriel Churchkitten.  I believe there were others as well.  Charming illustrations.
Graham Oakley, The Church Mouse. Sounds like one of Oakley's Church Mice books
Margot Austin, Peter Churchmouse, 1941. Cute story of Peter (a churchmouse) who was so hungry he ate the hymn books. The near-sighted parson, mistaking him for a rat, brought in a cat to get rid of him. When Peter found out the cat was a kitten and the kitten found out the rat was a mouse, they grew into a close friendship. This was the first in a series of books about Peter, his animal friends, and the nearsighted, sleepwalking Parson Pease-Porridge with whom they lived. The series continues with Gabriel Churchkitten (1942), Trumpet (1943), Gabriel Churchkitten and the Moths (1948), and The Three Silly Kittens (1950). The stories are also collected in the book Churchmouse Stories
Margot Austin, Peter Churchmouse. I am so-o-o-o excited. You found it!!!!! It was indeed the Peter Churchmouse books. I had seen the Graham Oakley books and although the drawings were somewhat similar I new they weren't the ones. As soon as I read Gabriel Kitten I remembered. I have tried so long to find these.

I40 Coleno, Alice; Tr from French by Alewyn, Veronica; Simmons, Peter Crystal tales [Crystal forest-phoenix; The pearl; Great  white water liily] il by G Vanni    Universe Books    [1959]   phoenix in crystal forest; boy Killi, dog Piccolo; waterlilly, alligator farm & Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth in Florida; fairy tales - juvenile fiction. 

This definately rings a bell, but all I'm coming up with is William Pene du Bois' The 21 Balloons, starring Professor William Waterman Sherman, and that's not the one.
This somehow makes me think of The 10,000 Fingers of Dr. T, where the villain's name is Dr. Terwhilliger. It does have a boy who has to escape from a bad situation, but I don't know if it was ever a book, or just a movie.
Could it be Sandy and the Seventeen Balloons by Jane Thayer? I don't know anything about the plot, but the title fits.
This person is mixing up 21 Balloons with Peter Graves, both by William Pene du Bois.  The villain in Peter Graves has the stunning name of Llewelyn Pierpont Boopfaddle  the plot involves a lighter-than-air substance which the teenage Graves tries to help the inventor market.
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I remember two central characters, a boy and a scientist of some sort.  The scientist creats various anti-gravity devices.  Employing them ususally results in unintended consequences.  The most memorable is a bowling-ball-sized sphere that bounces progressively higher and higher; each successive landing causes an increased amount of damage.  In the story, the boy and scientist struggle to stop it from destroying cities, the world.

William Pene du Bois, Peter Graves.  The same as S94!  This is most definitely Peter Graves. 

Roberta Whitehead, Peter opens the door, 1946.  No summary available, just a possibility.
Another person and I are both looking for the same book, but it isn't this one. I got a copy of Peter Open the Door by Roberta McDonald and it is for a very young child and not the story the other reader and I were looking for. The one we mean is for older children, many pages (nearly half an inch thick) and about a boy going into countries of different colors and having adventures. More science fiction type. Any help is appreciated. I remember it being called Peter in the Land of Many Colors but I may be wrong. 

Florella Rose, Peter Picket Pin, 1953.  Peter and his dozens and dozens of cousins tricked the coyote by popping out of different holes.
Florella Rose, Peter Picket Pin, 1953.  I can't believe it!!  I had been checking back for the past few months, basically had given up, and then yesterday checked in to find someone had identified my book! I wish I could see WHO had submitted the solution though.  I am so delighted and would like to thank her/him. Thanks for maintaining such a great website as well. 

I wonder if this is the book you noted to others -- Twilight Tales by Patten Beard.
Well, I bought the book and my 7 year old loves it, but it is NOT the book I am searching for.  I haven't remembered anything else about it.
Not much info, but there's Twilight Stories by Mrs. Follen, published Boston, Lee & Shepard 1889 "A children's reader from before the turn of the century. Beautiful blue and green decorative cover. Over 50 wonderful illustrations." 6 1/2" by 4 3/4." 94pp. Probably too early, though.
the title doesn't match, but the cover of Peter Puckle and Other Fairy Tales, "The Little Color Classics", published by McLoughlin 1940, shows a little boy peeking into the hollow of a tree where a spider has spun a web, and behind it you can see two little elves. The frontispiece shows the elves cavorting over the boy's bed. The book measures 6 3/4" x 5 1/4", 58 pages with full color and black and white pictures and text. The stories are Peter Puckle, The Dolls' Midsummer Dance, The Lamp, Looking for a House, Good Fortune from the Hill, The Shoo Shoo Man, Sunny Boy and Black John.
I found my original question (T69) and you answered it with  Peter Purkle and other fairy tales.   I think that is it.  I saw the story title "The Doll's Midsummer Dance," and that jarred long-stilled memories.  I can get the book.  Thank you.
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I only know it's a small illustrated anthology-type book with an owl that says "tu wit tu woo", a whippety wind that plays tic-tac on a door, Midsummer Night's Eve with fairies in a ring.  From the early 40s.

Thornton W. Burgess. This sounds like a Burgess book to me, but I don't know which one (my mother has all of them from her childhood, but they're at her house, not mine).
Jorinde & Joringel. I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but here is an excerpt I found-- "Joringel lifted up his head, and saw Jorinde was changed into a nightingale, which was singing "Jug, jug, jug," and presently an Owl flew round thrice, with his eyes glistening, and crying, "Tu wit, tuoo." Joringel could not stir there he stood like a stone, and could not weep, nor speak, nor move hand or foot...."'
Neither of the replies regarding my quest are what I'm looking for.
 Peter Puckle and Other Fairy Tales.(1940)  McLoughlin Brothers' Little Color Classic, with illustrations by Sari. In the story "The Witch", the 'owl-witch' calls 'Tu-whit-tu-whoo'. She helps a lost Baby-Brownie find the 'Shiny-Bright Ruby, which is the Lamp that will lead him to Fairyland.
YES!!!!! The book I'm looking for is definitely Peter Puckle!  Thank you.

Thomson, Molly B. (author & illustrator), Peter Puffer's Fun Book,  c. 1950.  could it be this one?  published London, Collins, circa 1950. "First edition with coloured pictorial boards  profusely illustrated throughout by Molly Thomson. An endearing train, Peter Puffer, and his adventures with Teddy Bears and Jelly Babies. The front and rear endpapers are decorated with Peter Puffer's ABC. In the series 'Collins Wonder Colour Books'." Also published as A Big Time Wonder Read-With-Me book. "Orange pictorial boards. Cute colour pictures of teddies, animals and trains throughout." The cover shows the train with teddy bears in the blue jackets of conductors.
Oh my god, that is it!  Peter Puffer's Fun Book!  I looked it up in BookFinders, and they had a picture of the cover - and I recognised it right away!  Thanks so much... this was my brother's favourite book as a child, and now he has a little daughter (just 2 weeks old) and I know he'd love to read it to her!  (I've already sent Harriet a request to find it.)  Thanks again... what an amazing service this is!!
Hi Harriett, since I was able to get a copy of Peter Puffer's Fun Book for my brother (thanks to your amazing Stump the Bookseller page), I thought you might like a photo of the cover to put on the Solved Mysteries page ...
I noticed some of the other books have cover shots.  It's not the greatest picture, but better than nothing. 

Pogany, Elaine Cox, Peterkin, 1940, David McKay Co.  40 pgs.  Just a guess since I don't have the book.
Scrambled Eggs, 1939.  This is the exact plot of the cartoon short "Scrambled Eggs", which first aired on the old "Woody Woodpecker and Friends" show in 1939.  Peterkin is a young satyr who delights in playing tricks on the woodland creatures, so he mixes up the birds' eggs.  When the birds abandon their strange new babies, Peterkin is stuck taking care of them until he confesses his deed.  Could you be remembering the cartoon, rather than a book?  Or is it possible that a book was made of the cartoon that I am not aware of?
It wasn't a cartoon, but that is the story!  The illustrations were great.  Unfortunately I played librarian and the book wasn't returned.  Scrambled eggs, I'll look for that. I do remember Peterkin had to egg sit or something like that.
Sorry, I didn't see the first answer.  I bet that's it!!! Thank you, now I can can go looking. I have looked for years for that book without knowing the name.
Elaine Pogany, Peterkin, 1940.  I am the one who suggested the cartoon "Scrambled Eggs".  I did a little more looking, and it appears that the 1940 Elaine Pogany book Peterkin is indeed the same story as the 1939 cartoon.  It is illustrated by Willy Pogany, a well-known illustrator.

Duvoisin, Roger.  Petunia.  Knopf, 1950.  A wonderful bookish classic.  I don't have a used one in stock (although I have several of the sequels, including Petunia's Christmas, Petunia and the Song, and Petunia, Beware!).  It is still in print, hardcover, for $16.

I'm not sure about this, but check out Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Time by Jane Louise Curry, 1975.  There are more comments on the Solved Mysteries page for that title.
Thanks for the suggestion, but the book I'm looking for is not Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Time.  In the book I remember, Rosemary was the name of the ghost-girl, not the real girl, and there wasn't anything about time-travel, magic spells, or a cat. The only herb that featured prominently in the story was rosemary, not thyme/time.
Ainsworth, Ruth, The Phantom Carousel and Other Ghostly Tales. (1977)  The story is "A sprig of Rosemary."  Joanna often plays with her dolls Milly & Molly in her tiny backyard.  The neighbor, and old lady named Mrs. Raven, watches from her window and invites her to come over and play in her own garden whenever she wants, and a maid brings out milk and cookies every morning at 11:00. One day she meets a blind girl with a walking stick in the garden and they play together.  The blind girl, Rosemary, says she used to play there long ago, and she's bothered that the rosemary plant that used to be there is gone.  She feels if she could smell the plant it would help her remember something important.  When Joanna's father gets her a little rosemary plant and the gardener plants it, Rosemary smells it and remembers once when she bent to pick a sprig of rosemary and she fell down a cliff - but she never reached the bottom and sometimes she feels like she's still falling.  Just then, Joanna looks up at Mrs. Raven's window and there she is standing, waving her hanky at them.  Rosemary looks up and says "I'm coming mother!" and vanishes.  The housekeeper sends Joanna's mother a note telling her that Mrs. Raven died at 11:00 - the exact time Joanna and Rosemary saw her at the window.  When Joanna was much older, she studies Hamlet in school, and when she reads the line "Rosemary, that's for remembrance," she says she doesn't need rosemary to remember - she will never forget as long as she lives.
Ainsworth, Ruth, The Phantom Carousel and Other Ghostly Tales. Eureka! That one's been bugging me for years!  Thank you so much for finally identifying the story for me.  I'd forgotten about Rosemary being blind, but as soon as I read your description, I knew it was correct.  Thanks to the kind person who submitted this solution, and thank you also for such a wonderful site! It's a highlight of my week, checking the new stumpers and solutions.

T57 Tobagganing Mystery
My sister, Laura and I loved this book! The book is THE PHANTOM CYCLIST: AND OTHER GHOST STORIES by Ruth Ainsworth, 1974 The story you are thinking of is White-Haired Children. The other stories are Phantom Cyclist; Sunday Child; Cherry Ripe; Whistling Boy; Cat Who Liked Children; Silent Visitor; Mirror, Mirror on the Wall.
#E16:  Could the sled story here be the same one described in #T57?  Thank goodness that was solved so quickly--I'm dying to read it!  Yes, The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales is great, and yes The Devil's Pocket is in it, but the others described here are definitely not.
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This is a scary short story about a brother and a sister who go sledding where they meet children...I believe they all have white hair.  They go to a party at the children's house and find it odd that there are no parents.  Weird things start to happen.  At some point a dessert is brought out.  It is a hill of what appears to be sugar with a sled and two kids on it. When the pair look closely they realize the figures are of themselves and that (I think) once the dessert is eaten they will be trapped.  I remember them running out of the house and getting on their sleds just as spoons are put into the dessert.  And for some reason I remember the girl has long brown hair (and maybe is wearing red?).   I read this in the late '70s in a collection of spooky and ghost stories - probably a scholastic book.

S363 This story is "White-Haired Children" from the book THE PHANTOM CYCLIST AND OTHER GHOST STORIES by Ruth Ainsworth. It was first published in England in 1971, then in America in 1974, 1975 and maybe 1971. Scholastic also published it. The other stories are "Phantom Cyclist", "Sunday Child", "Cherry Ripe", "Whistling Boy", "Cat Who Liked Children", "Silent Visitor", and "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall".~from a librarian
Ruth Ainsworth, The Phantom Cyclist and other ghost stories, 1971.  This is indeed a Scholastic book,and the story is called "The White-haired Children"
Ruth Ainsworth.  Yes!  This is it!  Hmmm so the story about the children with white hair is called The White Haired Children.  I should have remembered that.  Now I just have to find the book again.  Love this site and thank you contributors.
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In the 90s I bought a book that seemed old at the time at a garage sale. It was a collection of ghostly short stories and I remember the first story in the collection was about a group of children who had another group of (ghost) children move in close by. The (ghost) children didn't seem to have parents. I think the oldest sister from the (ghost) children was named Primrose (something with Rose). At the end of the story, the (ghost) children throw a party at their house and there's a big ice cream cake in the shape of a snowy hill with children sledding down. Somehow the human children realized that if they didn't leave the (ghost) house before the cake was eaten, they'd be stuck in the house forever. I don't remember any of the other stories in the book.

Ruth Ainsworth, The Phantom Cyclist and Other Ghost Stories, 1971.  This is the one you are looking for.  The story with the tobogganing children is called "The White-Haired Children."  Other stories in the book are: The Phantom Cyclist, Cherry Ripe, The Whistling Boy, The Cat Who Liked Children, The Silent Visitor, and Mirror, Mirror on the Wall.
Ruth Ainsworth, The Phantom Cyclist, and other ghost stories.  The story you mention is "The White-Haired Children".

#P77--Palomino, not golden stallion:  could be the Tizz series by Elisa Bialk.  Tizz was a palomino pony, not a full-grown horse, and she may not have been remarkable, but her owner, Tracy, considered her of exceptional
intelligence and in full agreement with every opinion of Tracy's.  Don't know about the Blue Ridge Mountains, but this family certainly moved a lot.  In the first book, they had just moved to the eastern (east of Arizona, anyway) United States from another location, and in a later book they had just moved to Arizona.  Tizz's excursions also included trips to the Canadian Rockies and Mexico--an exceptional distance to haul a pony!
Sally has found the book in question, it is Phantom Horse goes to Ireland by Christine Pullein-Thompson. Many thanks. 

Phantom Tollbooth

N14 - There's a battle in Norton Juster's Phantom Tollbooth between Digitopolis (numbers) and ? can't remember the alphabet city
N14: Number and Letter war -- Could this be Norton Juster's Phantom Tollbooth, with the war between Dictionopolis and Digitopolis?
This was my stumper, and I'm delighted to say that that's it! The Phantom Tollbooth. Thank you so much, I've been trying to remember that title for years.
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1955-1963  Childrens book about a group of 3 (I think) travelers that go on a walk to gether and one by one, end up on an island for making rash conclusions based on poor or incomplete facts.  A good lesson in why it is important to not "jump to conclusions" too quickly when faced with a situation.

J41:  The Phantom Tollbooth!
#J41--Jump to conclusions:  In The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, Milo and friends find that those who jump to the island of conclusions must swim back. When they reach shore, the Humbug isn't wet, showing he's learned nothing.
Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth.  1961.  This is an incident in this classic book on the merits of a proper education.

Harriet Pyne Grove, The Phantom Treasure, 1928, reprint.  The copy I have was published by Saalfield so is probably a reprint.  I think it was also published by Cupples and Leon.  Both companies had a series of Adventure and Mystery Stories for Girls.
J20 janetje: I've drawn a blank on plot descriptions for The Phantom Treasure, but a couple of other Pyne Grove books sound as if the plot is along her lines: The Strange Likeness, by Harriet Pyne Grove, published Saalfield 1929, green hardcover, 236 pp. "Classmates in a girls' school in Michigan who look uncannily similar find out they're twins, separated at birth."   The S. P. Mystery, by Harriet Pyne Grove, published Saalfield 1930, blue hardcover, 253 pp. The girls of the S. P. Club are rewarded for their excellent school work with a stay at a summer college on a lake and help a poor German orphan find her real family.
I don't know how to THANK YOU!!! I am one of those persons who had an actual ache to find a childhood memory in the form of a book!! I was led to your site by "Barbara" who saw my request in Alibris search page. I made my plea on your site about two years ago, where it lay "dormant" for so long, I had given it up. About two weeks ago when I went on eBay to purchase Judy Bolton books for my granddaughter, I decided to ask the seller of one if they recognized my story. I could not remember author or title, but knew the plot and characters' names. I knew it was written between 1920 and 1950. I read it around 1949=1952. I would ask almost everyone I met around my age if they recognized it; and I searched the shelves of antique stores...in vain. This seller of the Judy Bolton book solved my mystery!! Guess how!!! By checking Loganberry's and finding that someone had actually responded to my query after I quit looking. In fact, you had two responses, both correct. I was so happy, I went crazy and bought seven copies. I didn't realize that you sold books, too.....I would certainly have purchased from you. If you have a copy you want to sell me, and if you have a list of Judy Bolton books for sale, please email me with the info. I would love to buy from you and in some way repay you for the peace of mind I now have.  I had said for years that when I found my book I could die happy. I joked to my husband that he should start preparing for my funeral.  Unfortunately, the timing for such a joke was not too good. We lost our lovely daughter to breast cancer just 3 months ago. Sadly, she would have rejoiced with me over this find, as she was an avid reader, too.  I can only say over and over...thank you thank you thank you!! Please, if you carry Judy Bolton by Sutton, Tippy Parrish books by Lambert, Beany Malone books....email me a price list.  It was J20....Janetje jan van Meter Eldon........The Phantom Treasure by Harriet Pyne Grove that you solved for me.

Sonia W. Black, The Get-Along Gang and the New Neighbor, 1984.  This sounds like a Get-Along Gang book. They had Montgomery Moose, Woolma Lamb, Porshia Porcupine, and others--it was an 80s cartoon as well as having spin-off books.
Thanks for the suggestion - I tracked down a copy of The Get-Along Gang and the New Neighbour.  Unfortunately, it isn't the right book.  In the book I'm remembering, the "gang" who lives in the neighbourhood when the new kid arrives is not focused on getting along.  The size, shape, style, and reading level of the book are about right (40-50 words on a page, big pictures), but the pictures in the book I'm looking for had less pink and bright colours and was not as "happy" overall.

Phil Mendez, Phil Mendez's Kissyfur of Paddlecab County, 1986, copyright.I finally found this myself (totally randomly, I was at a Salvation Army thrift store and saw another book in the series).  It was indeed a square children's softcover book, but it was based on an episode of the animated series "Kissyfur," so that may account for my lack of success until now.  The details I remembered were actually pretty spot-on, except for the description of the lake -- it turns out that was the cover art.

Phobos, the Robot Planet
This one has bothered me for years. Over 40 years ago, I was about 11 at the time, I checked a science fiction book out of my neighborhood library. I rmemeber absolutely LOVING the book. Unfortunately, I cannot remember any details of the book except that it was "youth" science fiction and one of the treats for the characters in the book was Phobos Fudge (named after one of Mars' moons.) Can anyone help? Thank you.

I also read this book (30 years ago) - I don't remember the name/author (I would love to find out) but I do recall a few details, which may spur additional memories: The main character was being held prisoner inside Phobos (Mars' larger moon) by an alien race.  The smaller moon, Deimos, was actually an alien spaceship of some sort.  The fudge wasn't a "treat" - it was a bland, tasteless food (resembling "fudge" only in consistency) it was the only food provided to the prisoner.  It was delivered in portions roughly the size of a stick of butter.  It's not much, but I hope it helps a little...
Paul Capon, Phobos, the Robot Planet, 1955.  Also published under the title, Lost, a Moon - same book.
P87 phobos fudge: the suggested book might be Lost: a Moon (UK title Phobos, the Robot Planet), by Paul Capon, published London, Heinemann and New York, Bobbs Merrill 1955, reprinted London Brown Watson 1964, 178 pages. "What was the Earthmen's answer to the chilling menace from the skies?" "How would we - the people of the earth - feel if one day our familiar moon disappeared? It is almost as much of a shock to astronomers when one of the two satellites of the planet Mars suddenly vanishes. Deimos and Phobos - the outer and inner Martian moons - swing endlessly around Mars just as our moon circles the Earth. Phobos is the only satellite in the solar system which revolves around its planet more quickly than the planet itself rotates. It is only about ten miles in diameter and is less than four thousand miles from Mars. These are the few known facts about Phobos until one night ..." Phobos turns out to be a super-intelligent and curious robot ship, which one reviewer describes as the most interesting character in the book.

Elizabeth Hall, Phoebe Snow, 1968. A story about Lucy Snow’s great adventure in 1904, when she dresses like the girl in a railroad advertising poster to get a free ride to the St. Louis Exposition.
Hall, Elizabeth, Phoebe Snow, 1968. My grandmother gave me this book when I was a little girl, and I still have it.  Lucy Snow wants to go the World's Fair, and boards a train pretending to be Phoebe Snow so that she can get a free ride.  A young man aboard the train (I think he was the ticket collector) discovers her secret, but she discovers that he is a little sneaky too. Phoebe Snow is a sequel to another book called Stand Up, Lucy.

Yikes, so far I've encountered a donkey named Piccoli and a verson of Pinocchio with a title something like that. But I'm sure I've seen your version too, so I'll keep digging.
Could this be a picture book called Piccolo's Prank by Leo Politi?
No, I think it's this one:
Halsman, Phillippe. Piccoli: A Fairy Tale. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1953, first printing. Ex-library copy, hinges taped, dust jacket torn at top and bottom of spine. G+/G+. <SOLD>

Hi! I was on your "stump" page and found a description of a book called Piccoli by Phillippe Halsman. I think this is a book that I've been looking for for YEARS, but I'm not sure. The one I'm looking for does, indeed, concern a young boy and a tiny little girl. I remember he made a bed for her from a match box. One day she was attacked by a roach and she subdued it with a straight pin which she later used to hold on to as she rode the insect. Another time, I think the boy sealed her in a letter accidently. Anyway, if that's Piccoliit's the one I'm looking for, too. However, all searches on the web under the name of Phillippe Halsman yield only artwork, no books. Is this a book you have? I'd love to discover from you if this is, indeed the one I'm looking for and, if you have it. Thanks a million. Your web site is great fun! Thanks!
Hi!  I just stumbled on to your web site by accident, after having typed "Piccoli" into the internet search engine. "Piccoli" is the name of a book I have been looking for for ages. I fact, a couple of years ago I wrote to you
about it, and I see now that my original letter is posted on your "mysteries" page! When I write that original letter to you, I never knew you even had a web site, your name just kind of popped up some place as I recall. I see that the book I seek is by Phillippe Halsman, and that an "ex-library copy" is listed as being available... Is this true and can I purchase that copy?? I hope it is not too late, PLEASE write back, and if not can you advise where I
might begin to look for this? (now that I have the exact title and author!) Thanks so much!
Well, I tried to write to you to tell you that I had found the book, but your email address failed me.  But I posted it, as you see, and someone else found that recently and just bought the book.  I'm sorry, but it's no longer here!  I will of course keep you in mind should I find another copy. Thanks for the email.
Did you actually see the book? I mean, can I be sure that this is the one I was talking about? If so that is a HUGE help, as before I was not even sure of the title! Now there is reason to think another copy will turn up at some
point.  Unfortunately I changed my e-mail address several times and so can understand the problem you had in contacting me.
Yes, I had the book.  And I'm sure it's the one you seek--right down to the story about the pins...
Many thanks for your e-mail with good news! Please hold Piccoli for me, and I will put a letter and check for $17.00 in tomorrow's mail (Tuesday, June 13). Thanks so much.
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About 1954 my second grade teacher read a book to my class that has stayed with me since childhood, but I have not been able to remember the title.  It was about a little boy who was shy and not very successful in life.  But the hero of  the book was the little miniature girl in a red dress, with long dark hair who came into his life.  She travelled by walnut shell attached to a red balloon.  She taught the little boy how to not be afraid.  She fought a cockroach with a hatpin.  Once she got lost and mailed herself back to the little boy in an envelope.  She was such an inspiration for overcoming fear.  I would really love to have that book, but am unable to find it. Help please.

Piccoli, 1952.  I did not read the book but had the record.  I wonder if the person writing is not remembering hearing the record since s/he stated that the teacher read this to them in class. In any case, I had many records of children's stories and this was one of them-- it took up the entire LP record and it dates from the 1950s. The miniature girl's name was Piccoli and she was given to a very fearful and sad little boy named Tony  by a very old man. She fought a cockroach and 'tamed' him by piercing  him with a pin (and many other adventures).
Piccoli, Philippe Halsman, 1953.  More on this:  I actually found the record and it is indeed Piccoli recorded on a label
called Westminster.  The albumn cover notes gave the name of the author, that the book was published in 1953 by Simon and Schuster and that the author was really a professional photographer. It seems that the book resulted from him telling his daughters a continuing story that he made up about a tiny girlwho had many adventures.  BTW, the boy in the story was named Terry and not Tony which was the name of the old man.
Halsman, Philippe, Piccoli: a fairy tale.  NY Simon & Schuster 1953.  This is on the solved list and seems like a good match. The little boy has a tiny girl as a friend, and I believe she fights with insects at one point.
I have seen on the mystery site that there are others looking fo rthis book. Their stories about their feelings for it are exactly like mine. That gave me chills.  I am actively looking for it and would be very grateful if you could add me to your search list for it!

S389 The Three-nosed Snozzle is from PICKLE-CHIFFON PIE by Jolly Roger Bradfield. Purple House Press recently republished this.~from a librarian
Jolly Roger Bradfield, Pickle Chiffon Pie, 1967.  I believe you may be thinking of Pickle Chiffon Pie, which is on the Most Requested Books page of this very site, where you can see a picture of the cover with the Three-Nosed Snozzle on it.  The Snozzle is actually a male, but he does have three very cute babies, and he cries when he is faced with being separated from them.  Although the Snozzle is not exactly the main character, he does figure prominently into the story, which involves a princess who has so many suitors that her father, the King, always ends up having to share his beloved pickle chiffon pie at supper and never gets a big enough piece.  He has his daughter pick her three favorite princes, and sets them to a contest: they will each be sent into the enchanted forest for three days, and whichever one comes back with the Most Wonderful Thing may marry the princess.  One of the princes finds the Three-Nosed Snozzle baking Pickle Chiffon Pie in the forest and decides to bring him back to the king, but can't bring himself to take the Snozzle away from his babies.  That prince, of course, wins the hand of the princess, for bringing back a tale of "kindness and love and consideration for others".
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K136: king, contest, forest, magical creature
the king has a contest for his daughter's hand - the one who brings back the most magical creature wins.  the one who wins the contest does not bring back a creature because the one he finds has a family.  i read it as a child in the 1970s.

Jolly Roger Bradfield, Pickle-Chiffon Pie. See Solved Stumpers, also the Most Requested Books page here. "One of the princes finds the Three-Nosed Snozzle baking Pickle Chiffon Pie in the forest and decides to bring him back to the king, but can't bring himself to take the Snozzle away from his babies."
Jolly Roger Bradfield, Pickle-chiffon Pie. This is definitely Picke-Chiffon Pie by Jolly Roger Bradfield. It was republished by Purple House Press in 1995.
Jolly Roger Bradfield, Pickle Chiffon Pie, 1967. The king loved his pickle chiffon pie and got tired of sharing it with everyone who came to dinner (to see his beautiful daughter).  So he called the three nicest princes and told them that whoever could go into the forest and find the most unusual, marvelous, wonderful thing would win her hand.  Prince Musselbaum (the strongest and bravest) found a huge lion juggling six cans of rootbeer soup and wearing a velvet vest and roller skates.  Prince Wellred (the smartest) found a giant with a green beard playing Chopsticks on two pianos.  Prince Bernard (who had a big smile and a funny nose) found a three nosed Snozzle with fuzzy ears and an orange polkadot necktie, who was making a pickle chiffon pie.  But as Prince Bernard pulled the Snozzle to the castle, he found out that the Snozzle had a family, so he released him. He went back to the castle and sadly told the story of the Snozzle to the king. Prince Bernard was awarded the hand of the princess for his kindness.
SOLVED: Pickle-Chiffon Pie. Whoever solved this one is a genius!  I have been wracking my brains for a few years now about this book so thank you for putting an end to my misery.

A134  Flora Fifield, Pictures for the Palace.  Story of Eiji, a little Japanese boy who loved to draw suggested by legends concerning life of Hokusai, Japanese artist.
Possibly-- Pictures for the Palace by Flora Fifield, The Vanguard Press, 1957.  "This story was suggested by legends concerning the life of the Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849)." 

Pierre: A Cautionary Tale by Maurice Sendak.  One volume in the four-volume Nutshell Library. 

Patricia Scarry, Pierre Bear, 1954.  I'm almost positive this is the book.  It's written by Patricia as opposed to Richard Scarry, but it's illustrated by Richard and it is a Little Golden Book.  I recall the picture of the father and son bear in the kayak.  I believe they also end up going to a trading post, and, in addition to supplies, bring back a wife/mother.  The illustrations are some of my favorites of Richard Scarry, especially one at the end when they've all returned home and a pie is being removed from the old-fashioned oven.
Richard Scarry, Best Story Book Ever.  This sounds like the story of Pierre Bear that was in Richard Scarry's Best (of biggest?) Story Book Ever.  There was definitely a picture of Pierre and his son in kayaks, dressed in heavy clothing.
ah, yes.  Pierre Bear is an obscure favorite.  It was originally issued as Little Golden Book #212 in 1954 before it was included in Richard Scarry collection mentioned above.  I'd forgotten about the kyaks.
I'd recommend getting the Little Golden Book original over the Richard Scarry collection.  Even later reprints of Little Golden Books themselves often contain fewer pages/illustrations than the originals.  I've never seen the Richard Scarry collection alluded to, but my suspicion is that it contains fewer -- perhaps many fewer -- illustrations than the stand-alone book from 1954.  It may even contain new drawings altogether -- I found not too long ago a new edition of Richard Scarry's "The Naughty Bunny," the text of which had been slightly changed from the original and the pictures in which had been completely redone in Richard Scarry's "Busy World" style.  The older illustrations were much better, and if the person submitting the request is remembering with fondness the original "Pierre Bear" illustrations, he/she wants to make sure to get an edition that has them.
Pierre Bear was my all time favorite story as a child.  My mom read that story every night.  I have searched for the book and
any books that it is in.  I have acutally found an original of the 1954 Patricia Scarry release.  If you know someone interested
the pirce is terrible high ( around $130 ).  Now I did find what book contains the story.  Its not the Best Storybook Ever, its
Best Stories Ever.  So you should update that on the F78.
F78 Not that you have time for asides like this. Some of the Scarry books, especially Best Word Book Ever  was revised to make it politically correct with regard to women- some or all of the firemen and/or policemen, for instance, are now female characters.
The Pierre Bear story was included in one of Scarrys' compilations (maybe Best Storybooks Ever...since edited out)... it was my favorite childhood story. The story begins with a lone bear living and hunting in the woods. After shooting a moose ("Bang..and he was dead") he travels to the trading post where he meets a lady bear. In the spring of course there is a baby bear and together Pierre and his son continue to hunt and fish. This story was probably edited from TBSBE for PC purposes...too bad. Unfortunately my nephews destroyed this book and I no longer have a copy.
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read as child in early 70s...bear goes on trip and finds his bear wife and brings her home on his sled with pots and pans.

Patsy & Richard Scarry, Pierre Bear.  The bear also carries a guitar in the sled along with his new wife and pots and pans. This is a Little Golden book.
Patricia Scarry, Pierre Bear, 1954.  The book you're looking for is a Little Golden Book titled Pierre Bear, written by Patricia Scarry and illustrated by Richard Scarry. Pierre is a hunter/fisherman who lives alone in the north. When he takes his furs to the trading post to sell, he meets a lady bear. He marries her and takes her back to his cabin on his sled, bundled up in some furs, along with his purchases from the trading post (pots, pans, a guitar, etc.) In the spring, they have a baby who then goes everywhere with his father. At the end of the book, Pierre and his son go out in kayaks, hunting fur seals, which Mrs. Bear makes into white and black seal-fur coats for the family.  Unfortunately, this charming book is now pretty rare (and expensive!) An abreviated version of the story with fewer illustrations can be found in older editions of one of Richard Scarry's anthologies, which are more plentiful and considerably cheaper. ("Best Story Book Ever" or "Best Stories Ever", I think.) The story was dropped from later editions because shooting moose and seals isn't exactly politically correct - especially in a children's book.
Patricia Scarry, Pierre Bear, 1954.
Richard Scarry, Best Story Book Ever.  The story of Brave Pierre Bear is in Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever.  Pierre hunts and traps animals for their furs, which he then takes into town to barter for food and other supplies.  He ends up marrying the nice lady bear in the store, and taking her home on his dog sled, piled up with the pots, pans, and food that he'd bought.  Later, they have a baby boy, who goes hunting with his father.
Patricia Scarry, Pierre Bear, 1954.  This is it.  It's a Little Golden Book illustrated by Richard Scarry.  I loved it as a child.  The illustrations are great -- much better (I think) than those in Richard Scarry's Best [Whatever] Book that he started doing later on.
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I'm looking for a children's book that I read as a kid in the early to mid 70's that contained a line regarding thirteen jars of minced moose meat.  I believe it was from a counting book.

Patricia Scarry, Pierre Bear, 1954.  The quote appears on this website.  Richard Scarry was the illustrator, Patricia wrote the text.
Patricia Scarry, Pierre Bear.  This was in the earlier printing (1972) of Scarry's Best Storybook Ever but I believe it was also printed as a book on its own.  It tells the story of Pierre Bear who lives in the Great North and hunts a Moose.  He makes Moose pie, Moose cake, Moose stew, and 13 jars of Moose mince meat.  He travels into town, marries a female bear, and together they flourish in the wilderness.  They have a cub who hunts with his father and they shoot seals to make coats.
Patricia Scarry (Richard's wife), Pierre Bear, 1966.  this is definitely it: Pierre Bear. I'm sure of it.  this is one of my Childhood favorites.  the copy i have is actually in a large storybook: richard scarry's best story book ever.  what a great story. as soon as i saw "thirteen jars of minced moosemeat" i knew it.  it is about a brave hunter bear named pierre who lives alone in a "windswept cabin way up north" he is lonely and when goes into town to sell his animal skins etc. he meets a nice lady bear and marrys her and takes her home to his cabin and they have a baby bear next spring and pierre and little pierre hunt together and mother bear makes them all seal-skin coats from the great seal they hunt down.  i do have a copy.  i know what it's like just to read a story you remember as a child and to see the illustrations if you cannot find a copy of this book i would be happy to send you a photocopied version just so you could read the story and see the pictures you will probably find it though richard scarry is pretty popular.  let me know under your stumper if you have no luck. 

Mary Brown, Pigs Don't Fly. Most of the description comes from Pigs Don't Fly, but from the part about the heroine working for a witch, I think the query poster has also read The Unlikely Ones, also by Mary Brown.
Brown, Mary, The Unlikely Ones, 1986, copyright. A disfigured girl, who is slave to a witch, and her four animal companions help a cursed prince in his quest.  A wonderful, tragic, funny book that doesn't quite go where you think it will.
Mary Brown, Pigs Don't Fly and The Unlikely Ones. Just to clarify - In Pigs Don't Fly, the heroine is the overweight daughter of a prostitute  and the man is blind, while in The Unlikely Ones she is the disfigured servant of a witch and he is under a curse.  In PDF they don't end up together  in UL they do.  Otherwise it's the same plot, so it's not surprising that the query contains bits of both.

Well, Miss Suzy sweeps a lot, but it's a summer story...
B191  De Groot, Marion K., Pillowtime Tales, illustrated by Joan Tamburine. Chicago, Rand-Mcnally, 1959.  Stories are
"Mrs. Gray Squirrel and the Tiger Cat", "Mr. and Mrs. Robin" and "The Fairy Spectacles".  Plot for the first one "When
the family leaves Mrs. Squirrel at home to clean, Tiger Cat soon appears and Mrs. Gray Squirrel must find a way to get
rid of him and father's old hat is just the thing." 

Anne Alexander, The Pink Dress, 1959.  There is a vintage (1959) teen novel by Anne Alexander with the title The Pink Dress.  It fetches high prices.
Anne Alexander, The Pink Dress, 1959.  Maybe this one...it's extremely rare.  "A young teenager girl's experience at/with her first dance in high school"
Yes, I saw this book title online...and the huge price!! But I can't seem to find a summary of the book.  Can anyone help?  This just may be what I am looking for!  Thanks!
Anne Alexander, The Pink Dress.  I remember this book, wanted to get it, but also thought it was too expensive. I remember bits and pieces, have forgotten the girl's name, but she is asked out by one of the 'popular' guys and he gives her his id bracelet.  Some vandalism occurs, with some writing with a pink lipstick that she thinks was hers and that was missing after her date. She suspects that the guy is involved.  At some point she has to have an  appendectomy. Not yet fully recovered she discovers that the reason her date wasn't with her was that his mom had a baby and he was with his new sister. The girl has to run to warn him and her side hurts. I remember her thinking, "Silly doctor, she had to run" as she was trying to warn him about a fight with brass knuckes. At the end, he is fine and he again asks her to go steady and when they go out he asks her to wear her pink dress.  Sorry, but that is all I remember. Maybe it is the book you are thinking of
Alexander, Anne, The Pink  Dress,1959. Thank you so much for providing a short synopsis of this book.  Parts of this rings a bell: "the in crowd" popular boy etc., but now I am thinking that I have either mixed another plot into this story or it isn't the right story.  I seem to remember that this "pink dress" was something that the heroine couldn't have, whether it was too expensive or that it belonged to an older sister, I am not sure.  I do think it was a prom dress, so maybe I need to focus on other "malt shop era" books that end with a prom.  I can't get the last name "Proctor" out of my mind as a leading male character.  There was something near the end of the book slightly sexual (maybe some necking/petting) that changed the whole outcome of the story (prom.)  It was one of those books where you reread or continually check out the book just to read that particular section!  If anyone can point me to other stories that culminate with a prom, I would be appreciative!  And again, to the person who provided the summary of The Pink Dress, thank you!

Fix, Philippe and Rejane, The Pink Elephant with Golden Spots, Golden 1971.  Could it be this one? I've never read it, but someone posted this description on the old Alibris board: "As best as we can remember, 3 children receive an old wardrobe/cupboard from an old man. They are allowed to make one wish. While the boys are arguing what to wish for, the girl  wishes for a pink elephant with golden spots. Somehow the elephant later ends up in the zoo. The other elephants are annoyed because he gets all the attention so they paint  themselves other colors, while he paints himself gray. It rains, everybody ends up their original color, and live happily ever after."
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I think I was about 7 when I remember reading this book(1977). I don't know the name of it. It's about three kids, and their in a big house and somehow get three wishes. One wishes for a giant sunday, one wishes for a race car, and the last wish was polka dotted elephants. I loved that book. I hope it's easy for you to find. I have other books I'm going to ask you about. My sister and I had two big boxes of books we loved at our moms house and we think she accidently gave them to goodwill, but she dosen't remember. So sad.

Fix, Philippe and Rejean, The Pink Elephant with Golden Spots, Golden 1972.  Could it be this one? I've seen one description of the plot that says three children get a magic wardrobe that grants wishes, and the elephant comes out of it. It's on the Solved List. 

Brink, Carol Ryrie.  The Pink Motel.  Macmillan, 1959.  I often have one in stock...
The Pink Motel, by Carol Ryrie Brink, illustrated by Sheila Greenwald, published Macmillan 1959. "The Mellen family had led a most conventional existence until they found themselves the owners of a motel in Florida - a very unusual, very PINK motel that drew guests to it who were also not at all usual. The exaggeration of characters and situations is very amusing, and with a light hand, Mrs. Brink can stir up nonsense that should be fun for many boys and girls." (Horn Book Dec/59 p.480)

I found a book that I was sure was the one you're looking for, except that the 2 pictures you described aren't in it.  It's a slim book (6X6) from 1971 with pen illustrations titled The Book of Wishes and Wishmaking, collected by Duncan Emrich and arranged and drawn by Hilary Knight.  It has such advice as "When you hear the first whipporwill in the springtime, turn over three times if you are in bed....then make a wish", "When you first go into a new house, walk in backwards and make a wish at the same time," and "When you see a load of hay, make a wish, count to thirteen and then look away."  The illustrations feature the same girl in each 2-page spread (but she has pigtails) along with many more boys and girls, and are tinted with either gray-blue or yellow-green.  It's hard to believe there are two such similar books out there, but if you are remembering the illustrations correctly, there must be!  Good luck in your search.
the book i'm looking for is definitely not the hilary knight book. but thanks!
Joslin, Sesyle, Pinkety Pinkety, a Practical Guide to Wishing.  NY Harcourt 1966.  I'd suggest this one - the format is similar to "What do you say, dear?" with line drawings of a young girl trying various methods of wishing in rather fantastic circumstances - for instance the one of touching fingers with another person while saying 'pinkety pinkety' is illustrated by two young girls on trapezes touching fingers in the big top. The line drawings are in various colours, if that helps.

Sounds like Edward Ormondroyd's David and the Phoenix. Weekly Reader, 1957.  Purple House Press, 2000.  See more on Most Requested Books.
this is not "david and the phoenix", if you read the description of the book correctly, the animal is a griffin, griffon, or gryphon, very clearly illustrated in the tracings I have posted, please view them, they are taken directly from the book I am looking for. the animal is not a phoenix. the children raise the griffin from hatching out of the egg, till he can fly.
Bill Peet, The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg.
Bill Peet, The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg.  Don't have a copy on hand but the illustrations are definitely Bill Peet, and the storyline sounds right.
G172 Stockton, Frank R; Maurice Sendak has 2 pages about the author. The griffin and the minor canon    illus by Maurice Sendak.  Holt, 1963.
I'm looking at our copy of The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg and while the illustrations seem to match, the story line is completely different.  So is this the book the poster is looking for?
G72 Good thing you posted those tracings. The storyline didn't ring a bell, but one of the tracings reminded me of Bill Peet's illustrations, so I checked his books, and I think the person may be looking for THE PINKISH, PURPLISH, BLUISH EGG by Bill Peet~from a librarian.
Penelope Lively, from Uninvited Ghosts and Other Stories, 1984.  This sounds like one of the short stories from a collection by Penelope Lively - I think "Uninvited Ghosts". Can't remember the name of the story itself, I'm afraid.
Bill Peet (author and illustrator), The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg, 1963.  The librarian is right---the illustrations are definitely from The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg.  The "griffin flying" is on page 27,  the "griffin little" is on pages 12 and 36,  the "griffin looking" is on page 28,  and the "griffin sitting" is on page 33.  Unfortunately, the story doesn't match the plot the stumper requester described.  Myrtle the dove finds and hatches a large egg.  The other birds are frightened when a griffin hatches, and the owl insists that the baby be banished before he grows up and starts trouble.  Myrtle reufses and names the baby Ezekiel, or Zeke for short.  Zeke grows up and learns to fly.  The birds stop worrying about Zeke when he rids their habitat of wolves and foxes, but he eventually decides to live in the cave where Myrtle found him.
Joan Aiken, Mrs Nutti's Fireplace, 1972.  The story sounds similar to Joan Aiken's short story Mrs Nutti's Fireplace published in A Harp of Fishbones and Other Stories in which the two Armitage children hatch and raise a griffin but have to let it go. However, the illustration in my Puffin edition is nothing like the tracings.  I'm pretty sure it isn't Penelope Lively's "A Flock of Griffins" from Uninvited Ghosts, because those are free-range griffins raised by pigeons, not children, and again, the illustrations in my copy are quite different.
I think the librarian has positively identified it.  Check out the last picture on the OP's link, and compare it to the one from the Pinkish, Purplish, Blue Egg here.
wasn't this one of the e nesbitt books? (the woman who wrote 5 children and it) can't remember the title though.
Bill Peet, The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg, 1963.  The other poster sounds right. I found a picture from the book here.   I hope this helps you to tell if this is the book or not. The main page is here.
I must agree this is Bill Peet's The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg, 1963.  His name is Zeke, short for Ezekiel.  His mother is a turtledove, who adopted the egg from a cave when she was feeling forlorn and empty-nested.  There are no children involved, but illustrations posted look like exact tracings from the book. 

K47 In my first job as a librarian, I had a co-worker who fondly remembered a book about an African-American girl and asked me to track it down. That book was PINKY MARIE THE STORY OF HER ADVENTURE WITH THE SEVEN BLUEBIRDS by Lynda Graham, 1939, Saalfield Publishing. Could this be the book you're looking for? ~from a librarian
Lynda Graham, Pinky Marie -The Story Of Her Adventure With The Seven Bluebirds, 1939.  Thank you for this wonderful site and all the help that I was given. This definitely is the book that I have been searching for and I want to find this book to purchase it for my aunt. Can you help me find it?  Please e-mail me with suggestions of how I can continue my search. Thank you!!!! 

P69 makes me wonder about Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes. It is part of a series, though not about Pinky specifically.
If the Pinky character is a cat and not a human,Eleanor Estes Pinky Pye might fit the description...
I believe that both these stumpers have been solved! Thank you so much - this helps me tremendously!!!! So many books to re-read, so little time!
Another Pinkie series is by Agnes Ruff Adventures of Pinkie and More Adventures of Pinkie, illustrated by Conrad Bailey, published by Harrap, 1950s. "Pinkie Brown and her younger brother Poppet ... gay eventful
stories. Everything makes for lively adventure when Pinkie is around."

Later chapters have titles such as "The Snail" and "The Party That Never Happened."  The chapter where the Talking Cricket is first shown has him saying, "Creek, creek, creek."  In this version, after the cricket finds that Pinocchio will not listen to him, he leaves through the doorway.  He is clothed, and almost as large as Pinocchio.  At different times in the story, Pinocchio sings little songs.  One begins "I'm off to school," and one starts "I'm going home-."  The second-last page has a picture of a brown-haired (real) Pinocchio holding the old marionette.  The last page has many of the characters-like Gepetto, the Fairy with Blue Hair, and the real Pinocchio all around the edge of the page as they celebrate Pinocchio's transformation.  This particular Pinocchio adaptation is what I have looked for for years.  Can anyone help?  Does anyone know the adapter or the illustrator?

A couple of picks, both retold and with colour illos: Pinocchio edited by Watty Piper, New York, Platt & Munk 1940 hardcover, 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall, beautiful illustrations by Tony Sarg, puppeteer and illustrator. The Adventures of Pinocchio retold by Shirley Goulden, New York, Grosset & Dunlap, no date ca 1955, folio, 126 pages "An enchanting and really intriguing version of this classic, illustrated in color by Maraja."
I saw the Watty Piper/Tony Sarg edition in this bookstore, and it's not the one. However, the Shirley Goulden/Maraja edition sound like it could be the one-so I have ordered a copy from a library and am waiting now to see if it is the one I'm looking for.
Was the version with illustrations by Lois Lenski ruled out?
Oh yeah, long ago.
This is a note to let you-and anyone else who suggested-know that the Pinocchio book by Shirley Goulden WAS NOT the one I read when I was a second-grader. There is hardly any resemblence to the book I remember!  ...
Have the Frederick Richardson illustrations been ruled out? I saw the 1935? Winston edition on EBay, and it apparently has 22 plates and numerous line illustrations. Pinocchio had red hair and wore a triangular 'cocked' hat in the two plates shown. The bit of text I saw referred to him as a marionette. The reading level might be too high, though, and I couldn't tell whether it was much rewritten from Collodi's text.
Yes, we've tried that one too.  Alas, it's not Richardson.
P88 pinocchio: have the Frances Brundage illustrations been ruled out? I'm thinking in particular of the Saalfield 1924 edition with a foreword by Sir Compton Mackenzie, also published by Collins in 1957.
P88 pinocchio: have the Maud & Miska Petersham illustrations been ruled out? I've seen a few on EBay auctions, and the cricket is at least the size of Pinocchio and wearing a green suit.  This one may be too late - My Book of Pinocchio, retold by Jane Carruth, illustrated by Lupatelli, published London, Odhams 1961, first published in Milan 1961 by Fratelli Fabbri. "Glossy`pictorial covers with 28 unnumbered pages. Size is 12.5" X 9.5". A hard to find Pinocchio book." Note: this retelling was also published in 1972 and 1983 with different illustrations by the Embletons. That edition was described as "A handsome and novel modern re-working of a tale which has so many variations they can form an entire book collection and more. This depends, for its novelty, more on the Embleton drawings, which frequently span two pages, than it does on the predictable text." Another possible is The Adventures of Pinocchio, retold by Marie Joseph, illustrated by Reinhard Volker, published London, Rylee undated c1960s. "Large format 'annual' size hardback. Colour illustrated throughout. Glazed pictorial boards."
Well, we know it isn't the Petersham version; the Carruth and certainly the Embleton versions are indeed too late.  This may well be the holy grail we're seeking, but thanks for all suggestions...
P88 pinocchio variant: here's a few more to check out - Pinocchio, the Adventures of a Marionette, by Walter S. Cramp, b/w drawings by Charles Copeland, published Ginn 1904, reprinted Heritage 1937 with colour illustrations by Richard Floethe. Pinocchio Under the Sea, by John W. Davis, illustrated by Florence Abel Wilde, published Macmillan 1913, 201 pages. "The adventures of Pinocchio when he goes with the dolphins to find his father. He visits Beluga, the whale, makes acquaintance with the Gulf Stream and goes to the Arctic, he finds a treasure ship and secures the treasure." The Adventures of Pinocchio, adapted by Angelo Patri, illustrated by Mary Liddell, published NY Doubleday 1930. (Patri also wrote Pinocchio in America, same illustrator, published Doubleday 1928) Pinocchio, adapted by Rose Ross, illustrated by Henry, published Saafield 1939, 9 1/2 x 11". Hi! Ho! Pinocchio!, by Josef Marino, illustrated by William Donahey, creator of the Teenie Weenies, with color frontispiece & b/w drawings throughout, published Reilly & Lee 1940. "A unique text based on the original Pinocchio, but influenced by the threats of World War II including his ship being torpedoed." The Children's Pinocchio, retold by George Brown, illustrated by Sheila Ross, published Harrap 1960, orange boards, colour frontispiece, b/w illustrations in text.
This is just to tell anyone interested that the Pinocchio book with illustrations by Floethe is one which I did read when younger-but not the one I am trying to locate. Pinocchio Under the Sea is not the one, either. I am looking for a book telling the full story of Pinocchio.
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I found the book today!!!!Now I know why this Pinocchio book was hard to find.The book was first published in England.On ebay I saw the book-with illustrations that I recognized.The Pinocchio edition was published by Birn Brothers,London in 1951.The illustrator was Howard Waring.The book wasn't so old when I read it for the first time in 1961,but I am sure Marie French(my second grade teacher)valued it because of the European origins.I am very happy.Over the years I have read and seen many adaptations of Pinocchio,but have always wondered what the edition was that I had read in the second grade.Now I know for sure-and realize why it took so long to locate. The moral of today's story is-seek and seek and seek and ye shall find!

This may be Irene Estep, Pioneer Tenderfoot ('57), set on a ranch in Texas.

Mary Stetson Clarke, The Iron Peacock, 1966. Joanna Sprague faces life as a penniless, orphaned bond servant in 1650 she ends up as a kitchenmaid in the household of John Gifford, Ironmaster of the Iron Works in New England, where her natural kindness gradually helps to bring her grim life some friendships and a better life. The young man with the bagpipes is Ross, and she does weave him a new tartan---the colors are slightly off, but they're the best she can find.  As far as I know, there is only one book, not two.
Mary Stetson Clarke, Piper to the Clan, 1970. This is probably the second book that you are looking for.  After the Scottish army is defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar, a young Scot is one of a band of prisoners sent to seven years labor in Massachusetts.
Mary Stetson Clarke, The Iron Peacock,1966. This is probably the first book that you are looking for.  Joanna Sprague and her father flee Cromwell's England for a new life in America.  After Joanna's father dies on the voyage, she is sold as a bondservant to cover the cost of her passage.  She is purchased by John Gifford, the owner of the iron works in the Puritan village of Hammersmith, Massachusetts.
Mary Stetson Clarke, Piper to the Clan & The Iron Peacock. Wow, I can't believe this was solved so quickly! These are definitely the books! Thanks so much - I've been trying to figure out what they were for ages!!  This is a great service!

Pippi Longstocking.  Don't remember the author but enjoyed the book as a kid.
Ha, good thinking.  Pippi is a classic!  There are a series of about 8 by Astrid Lindgren in the '50s.
The one described sounds like Pippi in the South Seas. 

My guess would be The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea, by Eric Linklater, illustrated by William Reeves, published London, Macmillan 1949, 397 pages. "On the island of Popinsay, off the north coast of Scotland, Timothy and Hew are looking for treasure. But there is more than treasure in the sea, as their friend Sam Sturgeon discovers when he goes down to the wreck of the pirate ship. There is a great conspiracy, lead by the villainous Dan Scumbril and the abominable Inky Poops, to seize control of all the ocean depths. Timothy and Hew, having been taught the secrets of the sea, set out to bring help from Davy Jones's Summer Court, and run great risks and escape many perils before they come home again. Cully the Singing Octopus and his friend Miss Dildery - Old Gunner Boles and Mrs. Matches the harassed housekeeper - good Powder Monkeys (William Button and Henry String) and naughty Cabin Boys (Foxy and Dingy) and obedient Herring - these are some of the characters you will meet in this thrilling and joyful tale." (from the dustjacket) Cully's full name is Mr. Culliferdontofoscofolio Polydesteropouf, and he first appears on page 92, singing "I've been well educated, I've courteous ways, I don't often talk indiscreetly; I've eight sensitive arms, and I've learned how to play upon four grand pianos quite neatly - and yet ladies avoid my embrace for they say they don't like to be hemmed in completely." A sentimental note here - this was the first 'lost book' I located for someone else without having read it myself - my husband was trying to remember a book about two children who have underwater adventures, maybe with pirates. 

#W99--walnut ship in the park lake:  Pirates in the Park, by Thom Roberts. Crown, Weekly Reader Book Club, 1973.
Thom Roberts, Pirates in the park, 1973.  "Made from a walnut shell, Jenny's ship can't compare with the big
pirate ship a boy is sailing on the pond - or can it?"
I just wanted to take a moment to send you a HUGE thank you! I have been searching for this book for more than 8 years and had no luck . . . until tonight. I stumbled across your site and  was about to attempt to "Stump the Bookseller," when I found the title (Pirates in the Park!) This was one of my favorite stories that my Mom read to me as a boy, and I have desperately wanted to share it with my children. I just placed my order, and I'm so excited I probably won't be able to sleep for hours! Thank you so much!!! I will recommend you to everyone I know!

Tenggren, Gustav, Pirates, Ships and Sailors. NY Golden 1950.  I was just browsing through a copy of this in a bookstore, and found the story Little Lost Island in it. I didn't remember Jenny of the Jetty (so didn't look for it) but it is a book of sea stories and poems, with lots of boats and some children. There are pictures of children dressed as pirates, etc.

the name of that book is Purple Rain.
I'm not sure this is the right title, but it is the only suggestion we've received so far.  Please go ahead and try to find Purple Rain for me.  Additionally, my parents are certain this book was offered in the Weekly Reader program.  Thanks for you help.
Oh, I have my doubts. I've found lots of Prince-related books, and one by Bates: "Story, set in World War II, of love of a young British pilot for a beautiful Burmese girl. " So we'll keep this one on the Stumpers page....
P9 - This is definitely NOT H. E. Bates's Purple Plain
How about this? Pitidoe the Color Maker, written and illustrated by Glen Dines, published NY Macmillan 1959 "Just wait until you see what happened to the colors in the land of Soo when Pitidoe was left in charge of the Master Color Book! Ages 6-8." (Horn Book Oct/59 pub ad p.429)
More info on the Pitidoe story - 45 pages, ages 6-8 "About a little boy in the magic land of Soo, apprentice to the wizard Color-Maker. When the wizard goes away, he tries some experiments in color that are rather
amazing. Reminiscent of The Sorceror's Apprentice. Rainbow colors are expertly splashed on every page throughout this delightful book."
Just wanted to add this - someone on the (alas!) Alibris board has this book, and I asked about the points remembered. She said "I looked at the book last night and there is no baby sucking its thumb. but there are a lot
of purple children. Pitidoe decides to make summer colors for the land of Soo while the color master is away. Soo turns very strange colors, then everything turns purple. After a while, the purple fades away and there is
no color. Pitidoe can't remember how to make color, but all is saved when he sees color reflected by the sun in his tears and he stays up all night and brings color back to Soo."

Sounds like a Fuzzy Wuzzy book.  I think there's a Miss Sniff.
Pitty Pat, the Fuzzy Cat. I used to have this book as a child, and the pictures of the cat were flocked--they felt sort of fuzzy.
by Gladys Horn, illustrated by Florence Sarah Winship.  Whitman, 1954. Fuzzy Wuzzy Tell-a-Tale #2641.
M125 miss pitty pat: Let's try Pitty Pat the Fuzzy Cat, by Gladys Horn, pictures by Florence Sarah Winship, published Whitman Fuzzy Wuzzy Tell-a-Tale 1954, unpaginated.

Two little grey mice and a cat named Mr. Jinx, whose catch-phrase was "I hate those meeses to pieces".  Sound right? Golden Book #454 - Pixie, Dixie & Mr. Jinx Copyright:1961.  Author: Buettner, Carl.  Illustrator: Mattinson, Sylvia & Burne

I found a book called P.J., My Friend by Noel B. Gersen, illus. Patricia Coombs (Doubleday 1969).  Sorry, no description was given so I don't know if this is the book you're looking for.  I can tell you, though, that it was an adult book, 160 pages.
noel b gerson, P.J., My Friend, 1969.  library of congress card number 69-20088
Thank you! That is indeed the book. It appears that for the past few years I was unable to find it simply because I was looking for "PJ" as one word rather than separating it with periods: "P.J." That made all the difference. 

Not that close, but maybe Donald Suddaby's Star Raiders, illustrated by C. Haworth, published by Oxford, 1950, 232 pages. "An artist, a scientist and the pot-boy of a Devonshire inn are projected by means of a meteorite on to the planet Venus. ...innocent imp-like inhabitants and beautiful plants which can transmit thought ... sinister fish-like creatures in the seas, which attempt to trap the adventurers, and the plants try to persuade the earthlings to submit to an operation would transform them into beings like themselves 'timeless and contemplative'."
C51 cone people: well, going only and entirely on the cover art, could be Planet of the Whistlers: Space Science Fiction Stories, by Henry Bammen, published Benefic Press 1970, 72 pages, vocabulary list and study questions included. The cover shows a bald man directing rays at a dark-haired young woman who is inside what looks like a cone-shaped red force-field. Behind her is an opaque white cone. Both of them are wearing 'futuristic' clothes. Another title in the same series is The Bone People, which sounds like Cone People ...
Bammen, Henry, Planet of the Whistlers.  Benefic 1970.  I have now seen a copy of this book and can confirm that it is the one wanted. It begins with a rocket ship travelling to the Planet of the Whistlers, which has been taken over by the Cone People, who appear as white cones of different sizes. Their buildings are like big bells. On the ship are Captain Slay, a Whistler named Shrill, our hero Ryan and a young woman called Mary Ellen, as well as a mysterious man called Trine. It turns out that the Cone people have not taken over the Whistler planet, they are only caretaking it because the Whistlers are too lazy. Trine and Mary Ellen fall in love - he is a Cone, and he turns into his Cone form later, and changes Mary Ellen as well. The rocket ship returns at the end of the book, leaving Mary Ellen with Trine - she can turn back to her human form at any time but is happy as a Cone because "they think only good thoughts." Other than Ryan and Mary Ellen not being children (young adults would be closer) which could be a mistaken memory, I think this must be the book.

Not too sure about this, but since no one's got it yet: Clymer, Eleanor Treasure at First Base NY Dodd Mead 1957 "Story of Johnny Burton, who wants to play baseball but there is no field for the younger boys. How he gets the field, a coach and solves a mystery", illustrated by Jean Macdonald Porter. And at least on a similar theme: Faralla, Dana Wonderful Flying-Go-Round Cleveland, World 1965, Black & white illustrations by Harold Berson, "SHANTYTOWN CHILDREN TURN DUMP INTO PLAYGROUND, FLORABELLA FAMILY"
another try, could this be When Carlos Closed the Street, by Peggy Mann, illustrated by Peter Burchard, published New York, Coward-McCann 1969? "How Carlos and his friends try to persuade city hall to close their street for a championship stickball game - and how Puerto Rican and black kids on the block all get together in the common effort. Ages 7-11." (HB Aug/69 p.367 pub ad) This is part of the series including The Street of the Flower Boxes, where the kids get together to make their "crummy street" a prettier place.
B26 baseball diamond: it's basketball and a small town, not baseball and a city, but just perhaps, Basketball Comes to Lonesome Point, by James S. Ayars, illustrated by Bob Cypher, published Viking 1952, 192 pages. "A hilarious story in which one basketball changes the lives of all 350 inhabitants of a village on the Great Lakes. When Tommy, the owner of the famous ball, comes as a new boy to the small school, things began to happen. With nothing but the ball and grim determination on the part of the eighth and ninth graders, a team was formed, rules learned, equipment procured and the whole village drawn into the excitement." (HB Dec/52 p.409)
From another seeker:  I don't think any of the suggestions so far are a match.  I'm also looking for what I think is the same
book....the boys take a very run-down empty lot and laboriously turn it into a gorgeous baseball diamond.  Then they challenge the local little league team, who show up in full uniforms etc. and are looking down on our kids who have ratty equipment & play in t-shirts  but it's a close game  bottom of the ninth, two outs, one run down, our leader (Eddie??) hits
a long drive to the fence that is....caught, so we lose the game, but win respect and are accepted as a legitimate team.  It's funny, I remember the laying of the foul lines too, plus  the close-up drawing of the last ball being caught......keep looking people!!!
Charles Spain Verral, Gerald McCann, Play Ball!, 1958.  Little Golden Book #325, sometimes listed as "Let's Play
Ball".  This is almost certainly what you're looking for, complete with empty lot, laying of foul lines, big game at the end, and some baseball instruction to boot.  Wonderful Gerald McCann illustrations throughout.

P261 I couldn't verify the girl's name because I don't have the book at home, but I'm pretty sure the person is thinking of PLAY WITH ME by Marie Hall
Ets. And you weren't the only one who thought the book was special - it was named a Caldecott Honor Book in 1956.~from a librarian
Marie Hall Ets, Play with Me, 1955.  This has to be Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets.  A little girl has no one to play withand when she tries to play with the animals, they run away from her.  Only when she learns to sit still and be patient will the animals come to play with her.
Marie Hall Ets, Play with Me
Marie Hall Ets, Play With Me, 1955.  There may be other books with the same theme, but you described the book Play with Me to a tee.  Hope this helps.
Ets, Marie Hall , Play with Me

This sounds like, Mother mother I feel sick, send for the doctor quick quick quick by Remy Charlip and Burton Supree.  The kid keeps eating things (including the doctor's instruments, I think!) and getting fatter and fatter.  The illustrations are all done in silhouette.
Well, it could be.  I don't believe the child has a name, though.  Check out more on my Charlip tribute page.
This book was called A Playmate for Peter.  It was a Little Golden Book.
Actually, Playmate for Peter is a Whitman Tell-a-Tale book.  It was written by Adela Kay Maritano, illustrated by Louise W. Myers, 1951, Tell-a-Tale #803.

Vladimir Obruchev, Plutonia, 1915 (in Russian).  1957 (English translation), approximate.  Has to PLUTONIA by Vladimir Obruchev.  Cover and brief description match, as seen online here.
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World.  This one has some similar elements, especially the dinosaurs.
Obruchev, V.A., Plutoniia, (1915) 1957.  Thank you for the answer. The cover clinches it. This looks like the book I read many years ago.

Freeman, Barbara Constance, A Pocket of Silence, 1977, Dutton.  This stumper was just solved on abebooks.com.  The plot involves a pub called Lacemakers' Rest, time-travel, and girls being forced to make lace all day.

Check out the Golden Treasury of Poetry listed on the Anthology Finder page, it's illustrated by Joan Walsh Anglund.  Also look at the Big Golden Treasury of Poetry illustrated by Gertrude Elliott.
Wilkin, Eloise, poems to read to the very young.  Found over on your Eloise Wilkin page.  This book was reprinted by Random House in 2001 as Eloise Wilkin's book of poems for the very young.
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Children's book of rhymes and poems I read in the 60s or as late as 1970 or 71. Hardcover, green color. I remember a child on the cover, profile, perhaps looking upward. I believe there were animals and other figures in a line on a road coming down from a distance. I only remember three poems in the book:  The snow is [soft?] and how it squashes, Galumph, galumph go my galoshes.  B's the bus, the bouncing bus [...]  That carries shoppers store ward.  And the rhyme about "the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead" - I think that one was in there, too. The name of the book escapes me, but I'm sure I remember the words "Treasury" and "Children" in the title. I saw "The Children's Treasury" in the Loganberry site, but the description didn't quite match. I do remember that my book cover was mostly light green.

Selected by Josette Frank, Poems to Read to the Very Young, 1961.  I have a copy of this book and the cover is light green with pictures of children sitting in the grass watching ants, picking flowers, sleeping, etc.  The three poems mentioned in the stumper are in this collection:  "B's The Bus", "Thaw" (the one about the snow and galoshes) and "There was a Little Girl" (with the curl right down the middle of her forehead).

B179 Norling, Jo and Ernest, Pogo's Train Ride: a story of freight trains.  NY: Holt 1944, 48 pages. Father takes John
and his little dog Pogo to a roundhouse, which they inspect carefully. Then they spend the night on a freight train, by themselves! As usual, John is full of questions and Pogo investigates."  Sounds like a reasonable match.
B179 I should have followed this up when I first got a thought. I have several books where the dog. Pogo, accompanies
the boy and his dad on trips that teach him about aspects of everyday life: Pogo's jet ride, Pogo's  sky ride--so now I
finally checked bookfinder.com and found that there IS one Pogo's Train Ride a Story of Freight Trains  - and a bunch of
others. 

I wonder if the writer could be thinking of the Inspector Ghote series of mysteries?
I'm looking for mysteries with a West Indian protagonist (male), and one of your readers wondered if I was thinking of Inspector Ghote? I'm sure not. This protagonist is not an Inspector. Thanks for your help so far though! I'm still looking .... sigh.
I think you're looking for Mike Phillips -- his protagonist, Sam Dean, is West Indian. His best known book is Blood Rights; I'm not sure about a NYC setting in any of the books, although I seem to recall something of
the sort.  Aha! The Mike Phillips novel with the NYC setting is Point of Darkness. Excellent writer.
I've found a copy for you:
Phillips, Mike. Point of Darkness. St. Martin's 1995, 1st U.S. Edition. Hardcover.  Good to very good book in very good dust jacket. Front hinge cracked, remainder mark on tail. <SOLD>  Ha!  Yes??
Woo Hoo!!! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!! I'm so excited! send it to me. I'll start looking for new ones, and paperbacks, etc. too, so if you have some of those, let me know. Now I know why I love you! ha!

Parkinson, Virginia, "Manners": starring Mr. Do & Mr. Don't, 1943 (New Library), 1961 Harvey House.  Claytoons by Maxwell Dorne Studio, color photos by Philip Fahs, claytoonist Lowell Grant, illus. Isabel Phillips.
There are 6 in the Pointers for Little Persons series by Virginia Parkinson.  They were illustrated by either Isabel Phillips or Marjorie Wales and with color photographs by Philip Fahs.  Titles include  'Manners' starring 'Mr.Do and Mr. Don't', 1943; 'Kindness To Pets', starring, Spotty the Pup, 1945; and 'Obedience', starring Three Little Dolls.
Parkinson, Virginia.  Pointers for Little Persons: Book Two: Safety, Starring Roy Raccoon & Rob Rabbit.   NY, Schilling, (1943). Claytoon illus. in color.  Mr. Do & Mr. Don't and a host of woodland characters.

Gertrude Newman, Polly Poppingay, Milliner.  I'm sure this is it. I remember the descriptions of asll the fabrics she used to make the hats and how they were set up in the display window. I got this as a discard from my local library years ago, but I can't seem to find it.
Gertrude Newman, Polly Poppingay, Milliner.  This is the same as stumper M356. I know it is Polly Poppingay, Milliner. I read it about 26 years ago as a discard from my local library.
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A book I read long ago was about a young girl who became entranced with the lovely hats in the window of a millinery shop.  I'm not sure if the shop owner was a relative, but the lady did teach the girl the art/craft.  There was a lot of detailed description about straw, felt, feathers, ribbons and such; various millinery styles; and the process of making hats.  The girl began making doll-sized hats and created such lovely ones that people bought them, even famous ladies, I think...I kind of remember that the shop owner may have displayed the tiny ones in the window along with her own.

Gertrude Newman, Polly Poppingay, Milliner, 1943.  Perhaps it is this one. Set in the early 1900's, Polly visits her aunt in New York, who owns a hat shop. Polly gets to help her and even establishes her own little doll's hat shop. Illustrated with color plates and black-and-white drawings.
Gertrude Newman, Polly Poppingay, Milliner.  This is the same as stumper G298. I know it is Polly Poppingay, Milliner. I read it about 26 years ago as a discard from my local library.

Pony School, written and illustrated by Paul Brown in 1950.  The details match pretty well- the visiting cousin shows up in full cowboy gear and is told to take off his spurs. The mare that gets loose is named Fuss Budget, but she is trying to rejoin her foal, who is named Brenda.
Thank you so much for providing the answer to my stumper (New. E87.  Yep, “Pony School”, that’s gotta be it.  I totally forgot that title, but that has to be the one!  What a neat service you provide.  I have told my friends.

I have somehow managed to solve my own stumper that I sent in (*blush*)!  It was concerning Pookie the Winged Rabbit, W55.  Well, I found several titles in this collection, all starting with Pookie...  Pookie and the Gypsies, Pookie goes to the Seaside, etc.  They're by Ivy Wallace and I think there are seven in all.  Lovely stories... 

P103 poor little rich girl: Yes, that is the title - there is both a book and a play of this story, by Eleanor Gates, first published New York, Grosset & Dunlap 1912, reprinted 1940. The little girl's name is Gwendolyn, she is tyrannised by the footman Thomas, her nurse Jane, and the governess Miss Royle. When Jane accidentally gives her an overdose of a sedative, she has a fever-dream where she meets the King's English, the Man Who Makes Faces, and the Little Bird (who tells people things). She rescues her mother from circling round Robin Hood's Barn and her father stops burning candles at both ends and takes off his harness. It's an interesting little fantasy. 

C478 Is NOT Krantz  100 Pounds of Popcorn
Asch, Frank, Popcorn : a Frank Asch bear story, 1979.  Parent's Magazine Press.  Sam Bear invites his friends to an impromptu Halloween party and asks them to bring a treat
Asch, Frank, Popcorn, 1979.  Try Popcorn, by Frank Asch.  The characters are animals and the main one is a bear who decides to have a Halloween party while his parents are out for the evening.  All his friends come in costume and bring a little popcorn.  They pop it in a huge pot and end up with so much that they have to eat their way out!  Of course, the parents come home with popcorn as a treat.  It'\''s a Parents'\'' Magazine Press book -- always popular.
Frank Asch (author and illustrator),Popcorn, 1979.  When a young bear's parents leave him home alone, he decides to invite all of his friends over for a costume party.  Everyone brings unpopped popcorn as a party treat.  When it is popped, it fills the entire house, and the young bear and his guests have to eat their way out of the mess.  When the parents come home, the guests are gone and the house is clean---and what have they brought as a treat for their (now queasy) child?  Popcorn!  A very funny book with memorable illustrations.

Popcorn Days and Buttermilk Nights
This is a young adult book about a boy who moves to the country, possibly because he was troubled.  He may have gotten into fights at home, which was why he was shipped away to live on a farm.  He falls in love with a girl towards the end.

George Agnew Chamberlain, Phantom Filly, 1941. This sounds a lot like PHANTOM FILLY, the book upon which the 1957 movie "April Love" was based.  A city teenage boy with a petty criminal background is sent to live with an aunt and uncle on a country farm. He becomes interested in sulky racing, and in a neighboring teenage girl.
Jim Heynen, Cosmos Coyote and William the Nice, 2000. From Good Reads: "Seventeen-year-old Seattle native Cosmos DeHaag's life of petty crime has finally caught up with him. As punishment for his small-time offenses, Cosmos is sentenced to a school year on his uncle's farm in Iowa. There, he determines that his true trickster personality, Cosmos Coyote, will have to hide behind the mask of his well-behaved alter ego, William the Nice. But no one is more surprised than Cosmos when he ends up falling for the most devout Christian girl in town, Cherlyn Van Dyke, and she for him."
SOLVED: I remembered B782 just now!!!  Popcorn Days and Buttermilk Nights by Gary Paulsen! 

P37- Could be Popcorn Party (Elf Book)
Yes. It's by Trudy Boyles and Louise MacMartin and illustrated by Helen Szepelak.  Rand McNally, 1952.  <SOLD>
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I am trying to find my favorite old childrens book my mother read to me when I was 5...in 1966.  It was about an old lady who tried to make popcorn in a big, black kettle in her fireplace and then fell asleep.  When she awoke the popcorn was popping all through the house out the windows and doors.  She may have had a big dog too.  Thats all I remember.  It did have animated pictures and was not a long book.  I want to read it again for myself and now to my two children.  Any ideas?

I think this is on the Solved Page as Popcorn Party.
I would be very interested if its the book I'm lloking for...can you tell  me more?
Ah, the woman trades pumpkins for popcorn...she invites the neighborhood children for a birthday popcorn party.  Then she decided to pop most of the  popcorn at once!  Fire engines rush to the rescue.  Sound like we're on the right track?
I'm thinking its not the right one.  One thing I know for sure...she pops the popcorn in her fireplace.
I still think it is Popcorn Party.  Yes, she cooks the popcorn in a metal cage over the open flames in her fireplace.  Check out the image link listed on the Solved Mysteries page.
After looking at the cover of the book in your web page I do think this IS the book I'm looking for.  I totally recognize that basket.  I want to order the book.  Do you still have one available?  What condition is it in? How do I go about ordering it?
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I remember a book from my childhood - 1950's  -  about a little old woman who made popcorn in her home, and one day the popcorn kept popping and popping, and started coming out the windows of her house.  That's the memory - loved the book.  Can you help??

From the Solved Mysteries page:  Popcorn Party by Trudy Boyles and Louise MacMartin and illustrated by Helen Szepelak.  Rand McNally Elf Book, 1952.

I think the solution to S-128 is No. Eleven Poplar Street by Frances Fitzpatrick Wright. It's about a girl who has to spend the summer with her aunt and gets involved in a mystery.  In Poplar Street Park, the girl returns for another summer with her aunt and has even more adventures than the previous year.  There are two more books about this girl who is named Judy:The Secret Of the Old Sampey Place and Surprise At Sampey Place. Hope this helps. 

Perhaps this favorite?  Perez-Guerra, Anne, Poppy or The Adventures of a Fairy.  Illustrated by Barclay,
Betty.  Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1942
Perez-Guerra, Anne, Poppy or the Adventures of a Fairy.  This is the correct title but it is hard to find.  It can also be found in a Collection.   The Children's Hour, Volume 2,  Favorite Fairy Tales, Grolier Inc.New York, 1966.
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I have several questions for the Stump the Bookseller section of your website. All of these books I read in elementary school.  The first book was about a little girl who found an elf in her back yard and wanted to keep it in a jar. Her mother convinced her to let it go. What I remember most about this book were the beautiful and somehow haunting illustrations.

a similar query came up on Alibris, about a fairy or tiny girl trapped under a colander, and the suggested title was Poppy: the Adventures of a Fairy by Anne Perez-Guerra, published by Rand McNally. There's a 1953 edition which is illustrated by Betty Barclay, apparently a small abridged version, about the size of a Tell-a-tale book, and a 1940s edition, longer, illustrated by Benton West.
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1930's.  Poppy is a tiny fairy whose escapades/adventures take place in the home of a little girl.  Poppy is small enough that she is dwarfed by a teacup when standing on its saucer.  I THINK she may have been visible only to the little girl, but not certain.
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This was a book about a little girl who lived with a normal size family. However, she was so small she could sleep in a matchbox. I believe there was a little girl in the family who made her bedding, clothes, etc.  I read this book probably in the early 1940's.

Could it be  The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll (Longmans, 1966) by Aingelda Ardizzone and Edward Ardizzone:  "A perfect doll tale set in a modern supermarket. Doll, abandoned in deep freeze section, hopefully waits. Nice little girl perceives, plans rescue, 3 to 7 year olds." See more on the Solved Mysteries page.
Perez-Guerrera, Anna, Poppy: the Adventures of a Fairy, illustrated by Betty Barclay.  Chicago, Rand McNally 1934 and 1947.  I've never seen this book myself, but as described (on the solved list?) it seems like a possible match.

Is this Don't look and it won't hurt by Richard Peck, 1972? "Carol briefly finds happiness, but family problems intervene when her older sister becomes pregnant." I remember that one bedroom is barely big enough for the bed. I'm pretty sure most of the other details match.
Dorothy Haas, Poppy and the Outdoors Cat, 1981.  I'm absolutely positive that the book you want is Poppy and the Outdoors Cat by Dorothy Haas. It was one of my childhood favorites! Poppy Flower is a little girl who wants more than anything to have a pet. Unfortunately, she has six brothers and sisters, and her parents say absolutely no way. However, as luck would have it, Poppy manages to get a cat of her very own, one who lives outside her apartment building. But when Poppy moves out of the neighborhood, will Rosebud be able to come along?
Just thought I should provide more information about Poppy and the Outdoors Cat, in case you were unsure whether this is the correct book. I'm positive it is the one you want. The Flower family has seven children: Poppy, Fielding, Wilding, Forrest, Woody, Chryssie, and Daisy. Poppy's best friend, Tink, is the only child of a single mother. In chapter 12, Poppy goes to spend the night at Tink's house, where they eat off paper plates and have a bubble bath. When Tink's mother goes out for the evening, she brings them back stuffed animals (two fuzzy yellow ducks) the following morning.
Constance C. Greene, A Girl Called Al, 1969.  I don't remember the part about the cat, but all the other details fit.  Al is a slightly overweight 7th grader who lives in an apartment building with her divorced mother.  When her mother goes out, Al spends a lot of time with her friend (who I don't think is every named) and her family, which is in tact.  There are numerous sequels.
Haas, Dorothy, Poppy and the outdoors cat.  This book is Poppy and the Outdoors Cat. The girls lived in the city. One girl had a large family. The other girl had a single mom.  The girl with the big family spends the night at the other girl's house, and they eat off paper plates and the mom goes out at night. The girl, Tink, is mad at her mom for leaving them, but the mom bring back some stuffed animals to make her feel better in the morning. Then the girl with the big family, Poppy, finds a kitten named Rosebud in a trash can. She brings her home, but her mom says she can't keep her because they already have seven kids and a pet would be underfoot. Then they hide the cat under the back steps and make a home for her. They go to the store and buy a gray sweater with pink flowers on the front and put it in a box to make a bed for Rosebud. The story ends up with Poppy's family winning the lottery and they move out of their tiny apartment to a big new house, and Rosebud comes with them. She doesn't want to become an inside cat, but she lives inside and outside, and she also has some kittens that stay with the family.

Bronson, Lynn, Popular Girl. That's definitely the plot for this book. I think Bronson is also Evelyn Sibley Lampman. You might also like Bronson's Darcy's Harvest.
Marg Nelson. I believe this is one of Marg Nelson's, but I can't remember the title.  Her books frequently took place in the Pacific Northwest.  If it is the one I am thinking of, the Native American boy's name was something like Collie Yakima.
Lynn Bronson, Popular Girl. You all are AMAZING. It is Popular Girl. I looked up a description elsewhere and the name Gwen was mentioned. That's it! My sister and I have been talking about this book for years and despaired of ever figuring it out. My eternal gratitude to all!!!

this was ID'd on the Alibris board as The Porcelain Dove or Constancy's Reward, by Delia Sherman, published New York, Dutton 1993, 404 pages.
D79 duke's collection: plot description for Porcelain Dove, or Constancy's Reward, by Delia Sherman. "Eighteenth-century France is the setting - a time and a place where age-old superstitions shadow an age of enlightenment, where the minuet of aristocratic life is deaf to the approaching drumbeats of revolution, where elegance masks depravity and licentiousness makes mockery of love. Against this background, Berthe Duvet, maid to Adele du Fourchet, later Mme la duchesse de Malvoeux, tells her tale of a doomed society and of a family seeking to break a terrible curse. Berthe is an orphan child brought up in the green rooms of the Paris theatre when she enters the service of the beautiful young girl who is to be her lifelong mistress and charge. Her sharp eyes and sharper tongue record the intrigues and amours of a world of privilege and perversity, in which she and Adele must come of age in very different ways. Then, with Adele's marriage to the mysterious duc de Malvoeux, Berthe takes us to a place a world away from the Paris of Rousseau, du Barry and de Sade - the ducal chateau Beauxpres, hidden deep in the primitive Jura mountains of France, wolf-haunted, rooted in the memory of blood. Into this realm of legends and dark sorceries comes a scorned beggar with a fearful prophecy. Unless the House of Malvoeux finds and possesses a fabulous porcelain dove, the noble family faces madness and ruin. Yet even as the quest for the dove begins, the members of the family follow their own destinies and desires. The duc retreats to his aviary; the duchesse into parties and flirtations. One son heeds the call of God; another is tempted by Satanic sensuality. And a daughter grows up to be both rebel and savior of the family, fulfilling the quest even as the storm of the French Revolution breaks." (publisher's blurb)

Paula Fox, Portrait of Ivan.

Portrait of Margarita
Book poss. called Margarita, for elementary school kids, read in 1974-76 time frame, probably published earlier, orphaned girl with brown skin(Spanish or Italian mother?) sent to emotionally cold orchid growing uncle in England who insists on calling her Margaret. Girl nicknamed Nutmeg.

Ruth M. Arthur, Portrait of Margarita. I think this is the right one.  It's been years since I read it, but what I remember fits.
Ruth M. Arthur, Portrait of Margarita, 1971. This is a story of a young English girl, who upon the accidental death of her parents, comes under the guardianship of a older male cousin. He is quiet, but kind and generous.  She learns to love living with him, and in his very comfortable home, but finds she has a mysterious new enemy. Her mixed parentage is a factor in her self-esteem,(remember, this book dates back a bit) but this appears to be resolved by the end of the story.
SOLVED: Ruth M Arthur, Portrait of Magarita, 1971. Thank you very much for finding Ruth M. Arthur for me! I read her books many times in my elementary school library. Now I know where I got my early taste for British novels. Thank you for your wonderful site, where I also found another old favorite, Opalina.

S204: The Possum That Didn't (1950) written and illustrated by Frank Tashlin. Also the author of The Bear That Wasn't (1946), The World That Isn't  (1951), and The Turtle That Couldn't. Writer, animator, director and producer. He worked with Bob Hope, the Marx Bros, Jerry Lewis and directed "The Girl Can't Help It" with Jayne Mansfield and Little Richard. He was also the director of at least a dozen Porky Pig cartoons, some Bugs and Daffy, and many more.
Frank Tashlin, The Possum that Didn't,1950.  "Essentially just a social parable in fuzzy-animal guise, this one plunges its little protagonist into the inferno of modern American urban life, a setting which allows Tashlin's satiric sensibilities full reign, resulting in a visual riot of densely detailed tableaux." The text can be found at this site.
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A happy possum is hanging upside down in tree.  He is smiling but people think he is frowning because his smile appears reversed.  They decide to make him smile and end up making the possum sad. Eventually they realize their mistake and let him be. A marvelous story about misunderstanding, miscommunication, meddling, the relativity of happiness, unintended consequences of well-intentioned acts, etc.  Probably a mid '50s publication date.

The Possum that Didn't by Frank Tashlin.  Same as S204. 

Old Irish Folk Tale, Pot of Gold, 1971.  I have this tale in a collection of stories.  In my version, it's a man who catches the elf and the handkerchief is red.  Since the author is listed as "Irish Folk Tale", I'm sure the details vary by who is writting it down at the time.  My version is in an old grade school reading book: Scott Foresman Reading System, Level 3.
Linda Shute, Clever Tom and the Leprechaun.  I don't know which anthology you might have read, but I remember that story! It's based on a Celtic fairy tale called "The Field of Boliauns."  ("Boliaun," apparently, is a Gaelic name for ragwort.)  Tom catches a leprechaun and refuses to let it go till it shows him where its gold is hidden.  The leprechaun points out a certain yellow-flowered bush in a field, and Tom ties a red garter around the bush (making the leprechaun promise not to touch the garter). Tom runs home for his shovel, runs back, and finds every bush in the field adorned with an identical red garter.  There's a relatively recent version of this story called "Clever Tom and the Leprechaun" by Linda Shute, but I think it's out of print.  Hope this helps!
Well, this one has had some response!  Do you carry school readers? If so, do you happen to have the one mentioned in response to this posting on the Stumpers page?  It would be a level 3 reader within the Scott Foresman Reading  System, current in the early to mid-60s. I would dearly love to find it.

This book is Crofton Meadows by Joan Houston, 1961.
I found out what I could about this book, and I really don't think that's it.  The girl in the one I'm thinking of lived at home, and so did the other girl.  The mural contest was sponsored by the local library.  Also, I think the main girl's mother may have been dead.
Dorothy Grunbock Johnston, Pounding Hooves, 1976.  The book you are looking for is called Pounding hooves.  The girl's dad is thrown from a horse, the mom works and the girl makes supper and helps with her little brother.  A neighbor she has a crush on (Ken) his dad bought him a high spirited Arabian and he doesn't want her.  He wants a different kind of horse.  She volunteer to gentle her and tries to win the library mural contest to make money to but the horse.  She gets second and the rich girl gets first.
Dorothy Grunbock Johnston, Pounding Hooves.  This sounds like it may be it.  I ordered a second-hand copy, and I'm going to check it out - I'll let you know if it's a definite solved!
I finally got a copy of this book, and it IS the right one!  I was wrong about New England, though - the story is set in Washington State.  But most of the rest of my memories were accurate, if incomplete.  The main character is named Laurie Goodman, the rich blond rival is named Darlene, the boy she likes is named Ken, and the horse at the center of the story is an Arabian mare named Storm.  There's a mural contest, arson, old abandoned pioneer homes, and blue bottles, just as I recalled. Also, Laurie's mom isn't dead, but she's busy working because Laurie's dad was injured and can't work, so Laurie has to cook and clean for the family - guess that's why I remembered something about a mom being seeming 'absent'. Thanks for another one solved!

Harris, Jesse, Power series.  #1 The Possession. (1992) Teenage psychic McKenzie Gold senses danger when her friend accepts the gift of a shawl that turns out to be cursed and tries to possess her  #2. The Witness (1992) Teenage psychic McKenzie Gold has a vision of a babysitter’s murder  #3 The Fear Experiment (1992) Teenage psychic McKenzie Gold falls for her new psychology teacher, who wields deadly power over his students lives through hypnosis.  #4. The Diary McKenzie Gold is haunted by the ghost of a friend whose supposed suicide was really murder.   #5. Aidan's Fate McKenzie Gold dreams her boyfriend’s death in a violent car crash and searches for a way to prevent it..  #6. The Catacombs. McKenzie Gold must confront the monstrous evil lurking beneath a new ride at the local amusement park  #7. The Vampire's Kiss. Mackenzie Gold must fight a handsome stranger she believes to be a vampire who plans to make her boyfriend Aidan his next victim
WOW!! This is it!! Well done guys! I am trying to locate the books, and while I think I have done so, it is going to cost me so much money to post to New Zealand..I don't know whether it's worth it..I have read them here (NZ) but years ago, and I don't know if I can find them closer.  Thanks again!

The Power of Stars, Louise Lawrence.  This may be a long shot! On the back of an old library book from the 70's a description of The Power of Stars by Louise Lawrence. "A decidedly superior work of gadget-free science fiction about how self-sustaining exterrestrial neurons take possession of a young girl." An Outstanding Children''s Book of the Year 1972- New York Times.
Brilliant- this is the book! I can't believe it was solved so fast-I'd tried google searches under stars, motes etc without success.  Not only that, but I have also found out that the same author wrote "Andra" which was also a childhood favourite.

Williams, Jay, The practical princess, 1969.illustrated by Friso Henstra, published by Parents Magazine Press.  A princess uses common sense to get rid of a dragon, save herself from imprisonment, and find a handsome prince.
Jay Williams, The Practical Princess. Princess Bedelia is given "the gift of common sense" by a fairy at her birth and grows up to be practical. She deals with the dragon by giving him a false princess stuffed with straw and gunpowder.
Robert Munsch, The Paperbag Princess, 1980. This could possibly be it.  A dragon destroys Princess Elizabeth's castle, burns her clothes and kidnaps the prince she is to marry.  She puts on a paper bag and goes off to rescue him, but soon figures out that she is better off without him.
Sounds a lot like The Paper Bag Princess!
The Jay Williams book sounds familiar, but when I looked it up, the cover was nothing like the book I remember, and I know the princess had a long mane of hair like a fleece. I ordered both the books referred to, just in case, but I don't consider it solved just yet.
E Nesbit, The Last of the Dragons (and some others). This book has a story with a strong-minded princess who manages her own dragon-rescue (I think she recruits it as a new form of vehicle, actually). There are several other stories, too, which are unconventional takes on princesses and dragons. The title story of the book is up here.Perhaps you read a single-volume illustrated version of one of these?
SOLVED! Jay Williams it is, but I didn't know until I ordered the book and saw it. Thanks a million!

Beverly Cleary, Fifteen, 1956. This may be the one you're looking for.
Sorry, but none of these details appear in Beverly Cleary's Fifteen.  Jane Purdy, the heroine, doesn't have a sister either.
I just skimmed Fifteen and it doesn't seem to match. Girl is Jane, boy is Stan, if that helps.
Du Jardin, Rosamund, Practically Seventeen, c.1945.  I'm sure this is the one! I had it myself and recognized the poster's mention of the dark lipstick which I remembered her boyfriend secretly giving to her.  I knew the main characters name was Tobey but I tried searching and I had spelled her name wrong.  I remembered her younger sister Midge, and two older ones, thought one was Janet.  Put in Midge and Janet in Bookfinder and came up with it right away.  This is the first is what was apparently a fairly popular series in the 40's and 50's.  At least 4 books, later ones focusing on younger sister Midge.  I think the author and mention of the series might be in another place on your wonderful sight, maybe under a different book in the series.  I'm almost sure I've seen mention of the characters here before.  Hope this helps the poster!
DuJardin, Rosamond, Practically Seventeen
DuJardin, Rosamond, Practically Seventeen. Tobey, the third daughter in a family of four sisters, borrows her older sister's lipstick and is told to wipe it off as it's too dark. Later her boyfriend Brose buys her a dark lipstick for Christmas. The oldest sister's husband is away at war, the second daughter's boyfriend dresses up like Santa Claus at Christmas.

Hugh Redwood, Pines and pit-props,1936.  This might be it. The publisher is "London, Hodder and Stoughton", and it is listed as "Devotional Literature" in the Library of Congress database (LC Control #37011004).
Mary Mabel Cabana Wirries, Praying Pines, 1931.

A Present for the Princess by Janie Lowe Paschall, same as P44.  I still have my copy of this (not for sale!)
It's a Rand McNally Elf book (#8425), 1959, illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe.
This is A Present for the Princess by Jane Lowe Paschall
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I was hoping someone could help me find a children's book that I loved, but of course lost. I remember the title as "A Present for the Princess" but I'm afraid it may have been one story in an anthology, and therefore impossible to track down. The book seemed large (when I was young) and the pictures were lovely. The basic story is about a poor blind little boy in a old-fashioned blue shirt who wanted to give the princess something special. So he planted a strawberry plant and carefully tended it. I think the animals helped him, too. Finally the strawberry was perfect, and when it was ready, he gave it to the beautiful young princess. She has long blonde hair and a pink flower wreath in her hair and a precious pink dress. Both children have very rosy cheeks. Pardon me, I'm getting a little verklempt. It's a charming story, and I'd love to share it with my children. It must date sometime before 1970. Anyone else remember this one?

#P44:  A Present for the Princess--this was a Rand McNally Junior Elf book by Janie Lowe Paschall.
P44 present for the princess: sounds a lot like S101 strawberry for a princess and like Present for the Princess, by Janie Lowe Paschall, illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe, published Rand-McNally Elf 1959, over on the Solved list.
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You have no idea how PLEASED I am to have found the title under your "Stumper" category.  Once I found
your website, I truly was feeling lucky. I have searched and searched the web for the title.  I can not wait to call my sister and tell her I FINALLY found the title to one of our very memorable books.  Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!

Since no-one answered this, I had a go at it. I think it might be A PRESENT FROM A BIRD by Jay Williams, Parents Press Magazine, 1971. The Bimbles help a small bird, and in return the Queen of the Birds gives them a giant egg which they use in different ways.~from a librarian
Thank you SO much for solving my Stump-the-Bookseller submission (G208)!  That is exactly the book I was thinking of -- I am SO happy to know the correct title now, Present from a Bird.  I just found several copies online and ordered one -- I can't wait to get it!  I have been on a quest to recapture the favorite books of my youth, and this was the only one whose title continued to escape me. Thanks~

Willard Price, Gorilla adventure.  This sounds like Willard Price - a long series of books , Gorilla Adventure (2 boys rescuing a rare gorilla in the Congo), Amazon adventure, Safari adventure, South Sea adventure, Underwater adventure, etc. I should think there are around 15-20 books in the series.
Willard Price, Various Adventure.  Hi, I think I have solved your query. I loved these books as a child. They were about two brothers, Roger and Hal Hunt, and I seem to remember they were all called "------ Adventure". I remember being very distressed by one book when a baby elephant got its trunk cut off by poachers.
Willard Price, Southsea  & Volcanoes Adventures, 2005, reprint.  Oh my goodness, I just started to look for these books and I couldn't remember author and title. But as soon as I saw the previous answer I knew it was the right one.  I found the books have just been re released. Originally they were from the 1980's.  I am so excited.

I vaguely remember a book about a grumpy prince. It had red and black illustrations and was quite thin. It possibly involved a witch whom he was rude to and who taught him a lesson so his behaviour improved!
PRINCE BETRAM THE BAD by Arnold Lobel, 1963 The prince is naughty, and makes the mistake of hitting a witch with a stone. She casts an evil spell on it, and he ends up nicer for it.
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This book is about a nasty little boy (a Prince?) who breaks all his toys, shoots peas at everybody with a pea shooter, and just isn't generally a  friendly little boy. One day, he makes the mistake of shooting a witch with his pea shooter. She, needless to say, is not very happy about that, and turns him into a dragon as punishment.  He is a very sad dragon.   A long time passes. One day, in the middle of a very snowy winter, the very sad dragon sees two skinny ankles and feet sticking out of a snowbank. Feeling very sorry for whoever it is that is stuck in the snow, he breathes warm dragon air over the snowbank to melt the snow. It is, (now who's surprised?) THE NASTY WITCH!! She recognizes him and sees his sorrow and deep regret. She turns him back into a little boy and everybody lives happily ever after (or something....:-)

D91 PRINCE BERTRAM THE BAD by Arnold Lobel, 1963.
Lobel, Arnold, Prince Bertram the Bad.  From the descriptions I've read this is possibly it.
Arnold Lobel, Prince Bertram the Bad.  This looks like a possibility.  There is a review on Amazon.com which says that it is about a boy who shoots a witch with a sling-shot and is turned into a dragon. 

IIRC, this is by Elizabeth Harrison and it's definitely in the 1920 edition of My Book House, volume 2 or 3. (Don't you just love how many great stories turn up in MBH that you can't find elsewhere?) The full title is "Prince Harweda and the Magic Prison". He's a spoiled prince whom no one can stand after a while, so his fairy godmother takes him off to a palace which gets darker every day, but he cares nothing for the outdoors or anything but himself, so he doesn't notice it's a prison until the windows get so narrow that he can't see himself in the mirrors anymore, and all the dainty victuals and other soft luxuries disappear too and he has nothing left but a
hard bench and a sad frightened bird in a cage -  which, of course, helps him to grow unselfish. Quite fascinating.
One further note - in MBH, "Prince Harweda" is said to come from In Story-Land, which is from 1895.
#P63:  "Prince Harweeda," that's the story all right, and glad to finally meet someone outside my own family who's actually heard of it!  Also glad to know I can't have missed it in all the issues I went through so far--I read the titles carefully.  These collections sound just as hard to find as the originals, so I may have to keep going through back issues of "Saint Nicholas Magazine" after all, but at least now I have an author's name and a few more sources to try.  Thanks!  It certainly helped to have the correct spelling of "Prince Harweda" and the name of the author "Elizabeth Harrison."  I simply typed these into a Google search and found a copy of the story online, posted by an owner of "My Book House"!  So now I at least have the text while I continue to search for it in a print source!  I finally got to the university where I looked through the remaining volumes of "Saint Nicholas Magazine," and it does not appear in the index of ANY volume published between 1874 and 1907!  Since the book in which it appears was published in 1895, and my grandmother, born in 1890, read it as a child, I assume it appeared before 1895.  I don't think my grandmother and mother were hallucinating, but it was sure skipped in the index!  So if not for online sources such as yours, I'd have NEVER located this story!
Just wanted to add that you can read all of In Story-Landonline here. . You can even see photos of the original cover and dedication! The 16 stories are:  Little Beta and the Lame Giant, The Line of Golden Light, Prince Harweda and the Magic Prison, the Little Gray Grandmother, Little Blessed-Eyes, The Fair White City, The Loving Cup Which Was Made of Iron, Hans and the Four Big Giants, Story of the Small Green Caterpillar, The Discontented Mill Window, The Strange Story of a Wonderful Sea-God, The Vision of Dante, How Little Cedric Became a Knight, The Story of Christopher Columbus for Little Children, A Story of Decoration Day, Old Johnny Appleseed
Elizabeth Harrison's In Story-Land, including Prince Harweda and the Magic Prison, can be read here.
Mom always had it as "Prince Harweeda"--two "ee"s--and swore she had NEVER seen the appelation "and the Magic Prison."  As far as she's concerned, her mother saw it in "Saint Nicholas Magazine" as a child--WHERE IT AIN'T!  She also says she saw it in "some anthology" (perhaps "My Book House," obviously not "Saint Nicholas,") where she was very disappointed that the illustrations showed Prince Harweda in Little Lord Fauntleroy fashions
rather than the medieval trappings she pictured.  If not for the miraculous internet, I'd still be looking for this story!  As it was, copies of the book proved quite easily available, and I was able to present copies to my mother and sisters for less than it was costing in gas to run back and forth to colleges and not find it.  One of the most interesting aspects for us as a family was to be able to read the story and note details that my grandmother and mother had changed, and in some cases improved, in their tellings.

Rene Guillot, Prince of the Jungle, A very kindly librarian in California helped me with my book search (N95)- this book is Rene Guillot's Prince of the Jungle.  The location of the book is described online as India, not Indochina, but the information in the novel itself is pretty vague.  Thanks very much for your help.

R. MacLeish, Prince Ombra.  If the boy had a withered leg your book was Prince Ombra.  Set in Maine, destined hero against ancient evil.  Small girl is his friend and recorder of the story.  The boy wasn't an angel, but there's an angel mentioned in teh story, the 'cavern angel' who tells kids 'shhhh, don't tell' about what they remember of the spiritual world when they're born.
Orson Scott Card, Seventh Son.  Sounds like it could be Seventh Son (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card
Roderick MacLeish, Prince Ombra. The boy is human, his name is Bentley Ellicott, and 'Slally' is his 'rememberer'. You might also recall a green-eyed drifter called Willybill.
Roderick MacLeish , Prince Ombra, 1944, reprint.  Prince Ombra is a wonderful read and I think it matches the stumper's description. The first line out of the book is "It is said-and it is true-that just before we are born, a cavern angel holds his finger to our mouths and whispers, "Hush!" Thus begins the adventures of Bentley Ellicot and his friend (and recorder) Slally. Slally cannot speak, and is therefore very good at keeping Bentley's secret. The reviewer says "The town is gradually being corrupted by malice as Ombra draws ever closer with confrontation in mind. Despite the finding of a magical stone that is the key to defeating Ombra, Bentley is tempted and shocked by new revelations about his family, his friends, the people around him -- and about himself. Will the thousand-and-first hero with a "borrowed heart" overcome his weaknesses and fears, or will Ombra triumph?"  The book's author isn't in the A-G section of the library, but I'm sure this is the right solution to this stumper. 

Classic element of folk and fairy tales... inlcuding Hansel and Gretel, I think.
S18 Sounds similar to something that happens in Princess and the Goblin,  by George Macdonald. The princess' "god mother" spins her a ring with magic thread so she can find her way out the the goblins home.
This does sound the Princess and the Goblins.  Curdie rescues the girl from the goblins, and they follow an invisible thread, by touch, out of the caves to get safely home.  If this is the book, the poster might also remember the fire of rose petals that never burn.  Macdonald's stories do have a way of leaving haunting images in your head.  :-)
Just wanted to add that it's Irene and her grandmother's thread that rescue Curdie from the goblin prison - and later, while it's Curdie who does the gruelling work of defeating the goblin army and saving the miners, it's the grandmother who guides Irene to safety. In The Princess and Curdie, however, Irene is more of a passive character - in part because the threat is far more sinister and insidious than before.
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I saw that one of the books you listed on your "master wants list" was  Princess & Kurdy.  If this is the same as The Princess and Curdie it is by George Mac Donald and was first published in 1882.  He also wrote The Princess and the Goblin.  Our family loves these books and I hope that this additional information will help you locate them for someone else.
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I am looking for a children's book featuring a boy and girl - she might have been a princess- and their adventures under a mountain where goblins mined gold - there was more than 1 book in the series

#G104--goblins mine gold:  this is at least two books by George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie.
G103 & 104: These both sound like The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, from the 1870s.
MacDonald, George, Princess and the Goblin.  There is also the sequel Princess and Curdie.
George MacDonald, Princess and the Goblin.  Sounds like part of the series The Princess and The Goblin, The Princess and Curdie.
George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin.  This one does indeed have a sequel, The Princess and Curdie.
George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin.  This might be one of the Curdie books.
George Macdonald, The Princess and the Goblin, 19th century.  Sequel: The Princess and Curdie
This has to be the Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.  The sequel is the Princess and Curdie.
Could this be The Princess and Curdie, sequel to The Princess and the Goblins? These are weird, dreamlike, book length fairy tales by the Victorian novelist and poet. In both books, Curdie and Princess Irene face very grotesque goblins.
George McDonald.  Possibly The Princess  and Curdie, and The Princess and the Goblin.
Additional note: Elizabeth Lewis wrote simplified versions of both Princess and the Goblin and the sequel during the WWI era. They are surprisingly well-done and easy enough for your five-year-old to listen to, plus they have gorgeous illustrations by Maria L. Kirk. I'm almost positive this is not the Newbery-winning Elizabeth Foreman Lewis of the 1930s - if anyone knows of a link to the life and works of the former EL, I'm sure the original poster here would find it fascinating!
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I read this book around 1960.  The characters were a group of trolls or gnomes with rock-hard heads and very delicate feet.  The had to wear stone clogs because their feet were so delicate.

T141: Sounds very like The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald! Only one goblin wears shoes, though. The others refuse to because humans wear them and they hate humans and won't imitate anything they do - foolishly enough, since
Curdie discovers their secret and learns to stamp on their feet whenever they attack.
MacDonald, George, Princess and the Goblin.  This is a possibility as some elements in the story match.  Curdie escapes from the goblins by stamping on their feet as their feet as so tender and their heads so hard.  The Goblin queen is the only one who is privledged enough to wear shoes, stone of course, she stomps of the goblins feet when she is angry and is rumored to have toes which is why she wears shoes.
Could this be one of George MacDonald's Curdie books? The gobins in the books have very delicate, sensitive feet.
George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin, c.1872.  Without a lot of other detail it's hard to tell, but the goblins in the story have very sensitive feets, and the queen wears stone shoes, with which she stomps the feet of the other goblins.
"Classic story of the little princess protected by her friend Curdie from the goblin miners beneath the castle."
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M204:  magic hands discern character, 1935.  It was a book of fantasy stories and sparsely illustrated by someone as good as Howard Pyle. In this one, a fairy god- mother caused a boy's hands to be passed through her fire, giving him the magic power to discern a person's true character simply by shaking hands.

M204 sounds like the chapter "Curdie's Mission" from the Princess and Curdie.  The entire book of The Princess and Curdie is on-line (i used google to find it) so the stumper-poster can check to see if that's the story; maybe it was included in a volume of stories.
M204: The Princess and Curdie by Reverend George MacDonald, 1883. Curdie the miner boy receives this power from Queen Irene, the fairy great-great-grandmother to the very young Princess Irene. (Some call her a living ghost.) The purpose is so he can go and root out the corrupt schemers at the king's court, who are poisoning the king - someone pointed out the doctor's name has a pun in it to that effect. Curdie is accompanied by ugly goblin creatures who are as good as the humans are evil. In Christian fashion, the king is healed with bread and wine. MacDonald's pessimism and misanthropy get full play in this book - the ending is not as happy as you might expect. Illustrators for the book have included Arthur Hughes, Maria L. Kirk, and more. (Possibly Jessie Wilcox Smith, too?)
How could I forget? You can read it online. Here's one link.  And I was wrong about some illustrators I named - Hughes and Jessie Wilcox Smith each illustrated at least two of MacDonald's books, but not, apparently, this one. (Ironic, since you mentioned Howard Pyle and Smith was a Pyle student!) My Puffin edition was illustrated by Helen Stratton in 1912 and has a 1960s(?) cover by Pauline Baynes. Other illustrators include: James Allen-1888, Frances Brundage-1927, Dorothy Lathrop-1930, Charles Folkard-1951, Nora Urwin-1954, Will Nickless-1956, William Stobbs-1970, E.M. Piborough-1978, and Peter Wane-1980. Elizabeth Lewis did a short simplification of this book in 1914 - that one has some of Maria L. Kirk's colorful pictures from 1908.
Macdonald, George, Princess and Curdie.  Just read the chapter and this has to be it.
George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie.  If this has more than one story in it, it's probably a George MacDonald collection, but the story described is definitely "The Princess and Curdie".
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Princess had to go underground where trolls/elves helper her.  Read by me in 1967-1968.  The trolls/elves were special as they had extremely tender and soft feet that could not be stepped on.  Young adult/childs book very old.

George MacDonald, Princess and the Goblin.  I'm sure you'll have many responses to this stumper.  A classic.
George Macdonald, The Princess and the Goblin,  late 1800's.
George MacDonald, The Princess And The Goblin.  There was also a sequel called The Princess And Curdie.
This is definitely The Princess and the Goblin.  the sequel is The Princess and Curdie.  A poor miner boy named Curdie helps Princess Irene save the kingdom from a band of goblins.  The goblins have soft feet without toes. Still in print - also online at project Gutenberg.
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(1920?) Here's another one for you!  I doubt this one will ever be solved, my memories are so vague.  This book was a collection of stories, the book itself was small, I'd guess 5 x 7 or smaller. It was a library book,I read it in the 50's and the book was very worn and fragile then. That's why I'm guessing it was a 1920's copyright....maybe earlier.  The stories were wonderful and the illustrations were spectacular, all color.  I can only remember a portion of one of the stories.  A child was injured somehow, a lovely woman, maybe a fairy(?), found the child and nursed him/her(?) back to health.  One thing in particular I remember is that the woman put the child in a magic bathtub which frightened the child because it looked like the night sky and the child thought he might be dropped, but it was very soothing and the injuries disappeared as soon as he/she was bathed by the woman.  If you can figure this one out, you're a genius!!!

The story about the bathtub sounds like a chapter from The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald.
Bailey, Margery, Seven Peas in the Pod. (1919, 1922, approximate) This came up during a book search using some of your terms, but I don't know for sure if one of the seven stories is the chapter from The Princess and the Goblin.  "Illustrated with 8 brown & green plates and b&w drawings by Alice Bolam Preston, green illustrated endpapers, 5-5/8"x 8-3/8", hardcover, blue cloth with gilt green & blue illustration and blue titles....This is a charming book of 7 fairy tales with delightful illustrations. Each story starts with a song.}
Macdonald, George, Princess and the Goblin. (1871) The little girl being bathed is from Princess and the Goblin.  Description matches exactly.  Still in print of course.
Princess & the Goblin, I'm guessing. See Solved Mysteries - the tub first appears in "Woven and then Spun." The edition sounds like the pre-WWI edition
with Maria L. Kirk's illustrations. There's also another one, also illustrated by Kirk, simplified by Elizabeth Lewis.
George McDonald, The Princess & the Goblin. Thank you!  I only had a smattering of information and the mystery was solved!  I'\''m so excited and have already found and ordered the book!  Thank you again
Macdonald, George, The Golden Key. You might also try this one. My memories of it are vague, but I think one of the main characters is placed in a magic bathtub.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

MacDonald, George.  The Princess and Curdie.  Illustrated by Maria L. Kirk.  J.B. Lippincott, 1908.  Twelve nice color plates, corners bumped, spine faded.  G.  $30

C96 carroty princess: The first story sounds slightly like an Eleanor Farjeon story, though in that one it's the ragged servant who speaks for the prince who runs off with the third princess who has short dark hair, both of them escaping the prison of royal life.
Christine Chaundler, Princess Carroty-Top & Timothy.  This is for the first part of the query.  Chaundler is much better known for her girls' school stories, but did write a few other books including this one. I haven't seen a copy for a while, so can't check the story details.  It was published by Warne in 1924.

The pedlar's acorns: a tale told to grandmama.  This charming story (no author given) appears in the British girl's annual Princess Gift Book for Girls 1966 (on pages 84-89) published by Fleetway Publications in 1965.  The illustrations are beautifully old-fashioned. Marigold is "Monday's child" and is a mermaid in a tank for a brief while. Most of the Princess Gift Books from the 1960's are still available secondhand. I've had my copy since I was 11 years old and still enjoy reading the stories!
None, Princess Gift Book for Girls.  Oh my gosh, I posted this stumper never for one moment thinking that I would actually find it after so many years or searching.  I am absolutely delighted and quite emotional after reading the comment in posted green, which has completely solved this stumper for me as this IS the book I am looking for.   I have even found the book online...  I am so very grateful, words just cannot say.  I have been searching for YEARS (I am now nearly 50).  This website, and it's contributors are wonderful.

P.C. Asbjornsen, The Princess Whom Nobody Could Silence.  This is the story the searcher is looking for.  Its in Volume I of The Junior Classics, Fairy Tales and Fables, the 1938 edition.  Ashiepaddle was a character in several of Asbjornsen's stories. It must mean something like simpleton in Norwegian.
Don't know the particular edition, but it may help the person looking to know that the folktale is probably The Princess Who Could Not Be Silenced, from East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon.  Youngest brother, Espen, picks up seemingly useless objects (dead bird, sole of a shoe, horns of an animal, etc.), which his brothers tell him to throw away. He keeps them.  When they get to the castle, he's able to leave the princess speechless by showing her the objects in response to some of her comments.
Just a note about "Ashpaddle" or "Ashiepaddle" -- I'm glad to know about the Norwegian connection  I have seen "Ashputtel" as the name of the heroine in a Scottish version of "Cinderella", and assumed it meant someone who puttered (or paddled) in the ashes, certainly a usual occupation of simpletons.
A161 Not found [unless chapter title is entirely diff]  in the d'Aulaire version of East of the sun, nor in the New Chidren's Classics version illus by Hedvig Collin

Yes, there's a picture book by A.A. Milne called Prince Rabbit and the Princess Who Could Not Laugh    illustrations by Mary Shepard, E. P. Dutton,1966. But folk tales come in many different versions, and thanks to B495, check out this link to the same storyline under a title called Lazy Jack  online here. That stumper magician also mentions a Puerto Rican version called Juan Bobo.
No author given on title page,  illustrated by Marcia Grunewald, The Princess Who Never Laughed, 1961.  I agree, the best part of this book is the illustrations!  I still have my copy from the early 1960's (sans cover, alas, so I can't say if your recollection is accurate or not).  The last illustration is indeed Dummling dancing in a circle with the princess and the king.  One thing I always loved about the illustrations was the way the artist used tiny lines to make the jewels "sparkle"!  The book was published by Whitman Publishing Company.
Marcia Grunewald, The Princess Who Never Laughed, 1961.  This is a Whitman Tell-a-Tale book.  I have the book at home at it is exactly as described.  One of my favorites.

Princesses' Tresses
60's or 70's  story book about a preteen or teenish girl who wouldn't cut her hair and it kept growing and growing. Had very mod pretty girly kinda groovy black line illustrations of lots of swirling hair. remember some brights color like yellow or orange. In the end I think she does get it cut.

SOLVED: Luciana Roselli, Princesses' Tresses, 1963. Actually about a little girl who wanted long hair like the princesses and how in time things grow! Pretty pen and ink illustrations that I remembered so.
Luciana Roselli, Princesses' tresses. Lots of swirly hair in that one.

I haven't read either of these books, but maybe worth a try? The Sand Lady by Gwendolyn Reed ("A girl who is lonely and thinks there is nothing to do at her grandmother's house by the sea finds things very different when she creates a mermaid in the sand of the beach.") and The Three Wisdoms by Jane Yolen ("A deaf girl angry with having to wear a hearing aid and refusing to use signing meets a young mermaid thrust out of her community for disobeying their laws. MerfTogether they rescue a beached dolphin, and the mermaid is allowed to return to her family.")
Bryan Guinness, illustrated by Roland Prym, Priscilla and the Prawn, 1960.  This charmingly illustrated book is about a girl who is taken on an undersea tour by a prawn. It is a British book with color and b/w illustrations.  I am trying to find a similar book (my stumper is C341) but published c 1953 and likely an American book with less fussy, more contemporary illustrations.

Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13.  This sounds like a story featuring the detective known as "The Thinking Machine" called "The Problem of Cell 13." It's out of copyright, so there are many places online you can find the text to confirm it.
Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13.  This famous short story has often been anthologized, so it's hard to tell what book you may have read it in.
Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13, 1907, approximate.  This is one of Futrelle's "Thinking Machine" stories, about a genius detective who likes challenging puzzles. You can read it online at http://www.futrelle.com/. Unfortunately for us fans, Jacques Futrelle died much too young, aboard the Titanic.
I have read this story!  The poster is correct, the story was written around the turn of the last century.  I have this nagging thought that the author was someone who went down on the Titanic!!  The man who volunteered to go to prison and attempt to escape was not a magician, but an intellectual or a scientist.  I think there may have been a wager among gentlemen, as in "Around the World in Eighty Days."  The fellow got to choose what to wear.  He had his boots polished, and wore formal evening dress.  His formal shirt had an extra front (men's shirts had detachable collars, cuffs, and fronts in those days -- men just took off the dirty parts and put on clean ones).  The secret was that he used his shoelace and the boot-blacking to make ink, and then wrote on the extra shirt front.  He tied the message (with some money wrapped up in it) to a rat and the rat ran down the drainpipe.  Of course, it chewed off the string tying the message to its leg.  A passing child found the message and was able to help the gentleman obtain things that helped him escape.  Sorry I cannot remember any more than this.  I read this story in 1965!
Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13, 1900, approximate.  Definitely this, the first and most famous of Futrelle's "Thinking Machine" stories, often anthologized and available online at various places including http://www.futrelle.com/.
Futrelle, Jacques, The Problem of Cell 13.  Sounds like the classic by Futrelle, which shows up in a number of anthologies. The detective, "The Thinking Machine" (aka Professor S. F. X. Van Deusen), also solved a number of other mysteries, some of which are online.
Jacques Futrelle, The Thinking Machine: The Problem of Cell 13, 1906, approximate.  This is probably the classic short story "The Problem of Cell 13" with the Thinking Machine being challenged to get out of the prison cell.
Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13.  No question but this is The Problem of Cell 13 by Jacques Futrelle, one of the Thinking Machine stories.  I had it in a collection that I thought was called Seven Great Detective Stories, but I can't seem to find that title online.  Other stories in the book included "Silver Blaze", by Conan Doyle.  Anyway, you can read The Problem of Cell 13 online.
Futrelle, Jacques, The Problem of Cell 13, 1907.  This sounds like the short story "The Problem of Cell 13," by Jacques Futrelle, in which Futrelle's detective, Prof. Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, the Thinking Machine," enters a prison cell to challenge the warden's assertion that the cell is inescapable. He utilizes a rat and some material from a shirt.
Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13, 1907.  This is a classic mystery involving the character Prof. Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, aka "The Thinking Machine". He escapes from the prison cell by careful observations of his surroundings and an understanding of human nature (plus a bit of luck). You can read this short story online at: http://www.futrelle.com/  Unfortunately for his fans, Futrelle died at an early age, returning home from Europe aboard the Titanic.
Jacques Futrelle, The Problem of Cell 13, 1968, copyright.  This is "The Problem of Cell 13" and it is in "Seven Great Detective Stories" along with "Silver Blaze" by Conan Doyle and "The Blast of the Book" by G.K. Chesterton. "Seven Great Detective Stories" was edited by William H. Larson, published by Whitman Publishing and copyrighted in 1968 by estern Publishing Co. The Library of Congress Card Catalog Number is 68-25323.

Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons
Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons
Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons, 1966.  I believe this is the book you are looking for. "Professor Diggins is the kind of person everyone would want in their neighborhood -- polite, slightly eccentric, good with children, an odd storyteller, and an authority on marine biology. He also believes in dragons. When it is proposed that he take a very long vacation (the University is thinking of getting rid of him due to his references to dragon hunting in the modern world), he is convinced, rather easily, to take five children along with him to help him in his collection of seaside specimens."
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I read this book as a paperback chapter book in the early to mid-eighties. A group of kids (boys and girls) are chosen to spend the summer living on the beach with an older (I think with white beard) male teacher, and probably also a woman teacher/chaperone. Some kids sleep in the van and others in a tent, I think. They have a meeting at the beginning of the book to ask permission from parents to go, and petit-fours are served. I think the kids work through various problems and learn life lessons over the summer. One incident: a child visualizes jelly beans filling up the dark inside of the van, possibly to help him/her go to sleep at night. There is a song sung to guitar accompaniment with lyrics about "no no no" and/or "yes yes yes," and I think music and the lyrics were included in the book. The cover illustration (and maybe there were illustrations inside) were possibly in the style of Eric Blegvad or N.M. Bodecker. Pretty sure there was a picture of the teacher and the bus/van on the cover. Possibly has "van" "magic" or "bus" in the title. Such a great site, please help!  :)

Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons.  I'm sure of this. See Solved Stumpers.
I think this has been solved! The Solved Stumpers write-up about Professor Diggins' Dragons matches what I remember. Thanks so much!

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This book revolved around a school bus that a male teacher had converted into a camper and used to take several children on a trip to the seashore. Once there the children all had various adventures, and one of the children discovered a secret "grotto" of some sort.

Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons, 1966. I don't remember a grotto, but your description reminds me of this one, in which a professor (who many of the adults think is crazy because he claims to hunt dragons) takes a group of five children to the seashore during summer vacation. They do camp in a converted bus, and have various simple adventures, during which the professor helps each child with a specific problem they have (forgetfulness, laziness, etc.), which he refers to as "dragon-hunting".
Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons, 1974. Professor Diggins takes a group of kids on a trip to the beach and teaches them to confront their fears. The "dragons" in the title are the fears--there are no actual dragons. He does turn a bus into a camping vehicle.
Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons
Felice Holman, Professor Diggin's Dragons, 1965. Don't let the title fool you! It's not about dragons at all...it's the story of a group of kids and an elderly professor who converts an old-fashioned schoolbus (they have flower boxes in the windows) to a sort-of camper, and they go off on adventures, including one on the beach.
SOLVED: Felice Holman, Professor Diggins' Dragons. This has got to be it! No secret grotto, but one of the children did create his own special spot on the beach where he could write stories, and that must be what I was remembering. I have been searching for this book for years and would never have found it without the help of those on this site. Thank you!!

William Hayes, Project: Genius.  This is it.  For some reason the title is extremely hard to remember, though!

Steel, Danielle, The Promise. I think this was based on the screenplay to a movie- although I never saw the movie. One of Steel's earliest, but it appears to have been reprinted. Nancy and Michael are very believable characters, although the story itself is a bit far fetched.
Steele, Danielle, The Promise, 1978. It sounds like The Promise, which might have been Danielle Steele's first book.  It was made into a movie about 1980 or so with Kathleen Quinlan.
Danielle Steel, The Promise. Two college students, one from a rich background, and the other from a poor one, decide to elope. They are involved in a serious car wreck, with the young girl's face severely injured. In order to get the necessary surgery, the mother of the young man injured in the accident offers a deal to the young woman - to stay out of her son''s life permanently, and in return, get the plastic surgery to restore her face. What comes after that is something none of them expected.
Danielle Steel, The Promise
etc.

A Promise is a Promise is by Robert Munsch and Michael Kusugak.  I can get you a paperback copy...

Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood, Promises in the Attic, 1960, copyright. Could this be the book? This story takes place in Dayton, Ohio and is indeed a book that includes a detailed account of a family and the ordeal of the March 25-27, 1913 Miami River flood. It devastated the city of Dayton but the city fought back. The story is related through the eyes of young 16-year-old "Ginger" Virginia O'Neal, a girl who desires to become a writer and is actually already doing a fine job of writing for the local school publication. Ginger is the author of pages of first-hand accounts of what took place during the flood as seen on her street. She and her grandfather are trapped in the attic, better off than most neighbors, because of Ginger's writing desire. Her typewriter purchase proved to be an old and noisy machine that was set up in the attic for the peace and quiet of the rest of the family. A small stove had been added as well as discarded furniture making the attic in the O'Neal house a haven during the flood. Grandpa encouraged her to write the account to keep her mind off the horror of the flood."

This sounds a bit like Julie by Catherine Marshall--a semi-autobiographical novel by the author of Christy.Julie's father buys the local newspaper and she struggles to make friends in a small town while doing some investigative eporting.

Anthony Oliver, series of mysteries- Pew Group, Property of a lady, Elberg Collection.  Anthony Oliver wrote 4 mysteries (70s, 80s) which include a family that sells antiques. All the stories pivot on the antique business, and are mainly centered around a small village. Cozy. Lizzie Thomas is the main character. Inspector Webber is the policeman.

Prose and Poetry for  Young Readers & Writers. Catholic literature. I'm the original inquirer on C479, I believe I found the correct title of the text books the story was in. It is Prose and Poetry for  Young Readers & Writers. The story I'm looking for may have been in year 5 or6.

Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising Series.  This may not be right, but the last book of the series Silver on the Tree does deal a lot with the dark riders who all ride black horses. Its also set in Wales, which explains the names the poster remembers.
LLoyd Alexander, Prydain Chronicles.  The description could fit a number of books, but one possibility might be the Prydain Chronicles.  Books in the series are: The Book of Three (1964), The Black Cauldron (1965), The Castle of Llyr (1966), Taran Wanderer (1967), The High King (1968).
Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron.  Taran and his friends (Ellidyr, Eilonwy, Adaon, Fflewwdur, etc.) seek the Black Cauldron, which the evil lord Arawn uses to create dead Cauldron-Born warriors.  It's part of a longer series (The Book of Three, The High King, etc.)  My childhood copy is dark red with a hand-drawn map in the front. The number of Welsh-sounding names in the series is astounding.
Any possibility this could be Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles series (Taran Wanderer, The Black Cauldron, etc.)?
Lloyd Alexander, Book of Three.  There are a lot of fantasy series with a Welsh flavor, but the Prydain chronicles by Lloyd Alexander (beginning with THE BOOK OF THREE) is the granddaddy of them all. It's full of names like Eilonwy, Gwydion and Medwyn.
Lloyd Alexander, Prydain Chronicles, 1960s.  These might be what you're looking for: A series that includes The Book of Three, The Castle of Llyr, The Black Cauldron, Taran Wanderer and The High King. These books have lots of warriors, both good and evil, on horses (pretty much same idea as knights), many in black armour, and lots of Welsh names that all seem to have the letter y in them. Taran, an "Assistant Pig-Keeper," is the main character throughout the series, and Princess Eilonwy is his love interest.
Norah Lofts.  For some reason, the name Norah Lofts popped into my head when I read this stumper. A lot of her books would be set in an appropriate time period at least but I haven't read them recently enough to say for sure about any individual title.
Lloyd Alexander, Prydain Chronicles.  This sounds an awful lot like the Prydain Chronicles which includes the book The Black Cauldron. Some of the characters are Gwydion, Gwystyl, and Fflewddur. There's a Castle of Llyr and a sword called dyrnwyn. Arawn, the High King, controls some very nasty legions that ride black horses. The hero is a farm boy named Taran. I believe there are six books in the series.

Ezra Jack Keats, Pssst! Doggie, 1973.  I know the date's a little later than you were looking for, but this seems to be a likely book.  It is described as "almost a wordless book."  The library catalog description is "A dog and cat dance their way through several countries."
Keats, Ezra Jack , Pssst! Doggie--  1973. If the dog and cat dress up and dance their way through various countries, this is your book.

Interpreting Condition Grades

Keats, Ezra Jack.  Pssst!  Doggie-.  NY: Franklin Watts, 1973.  Ex-library copy, cover soiled and worn, labels and pocket removed, pages clean and crisp.  G+.  <SOLD>

Dean Walley, Puck's Peculiar Pet Shop, 1970.  The "Tweezer-Fingered Snip" is definitely one of the bizarre creatures in this vibrantly-illustrated (by Rosalyn Schanzer) book, in which every sentence is a tongue twister.  Other weird creatures in the shop include the Nibble Dribble, the Lollipopper Dropper, Twisted Tretzel, etc.  The edition I read years ago was a pop-up book, but I do not know if there was also a non-pop-up version as well, or not.
Yes!  That's it!  The moment I read the title aloud, my mother's eyes twinkled with realization as she verified that Puck's Peculiar Pet Shop is indeed the correct book.  Thank you so much!

This sounds like Martha McKee Welch, Pudding & Pie ('68). 

I have this rhyme in my edition of My Book House, volume 1.  It is identified as an American nursery rhyme from Maryland. What's your name?  Puddin' Tame. Where do you live?  Up Red Lane.  What's your number?  Twenty two Cumber. (Yes, it does say Tame with an "M")

I have your book! Sarton, May.  Punch's Secret.  Illustrated by Howard Knotts.  Harper & Row, 1974.  First edition, ex-library copy.  <SOLD>
Thank you so much!  I've been looking for this book for ages. 

T. Izawa (illustrator), 1971.  I had this red book, and I can still see all those photographs in my mind...but I'm not sure of the title, and I think it's very scarce.  You can find single-story volumes by the same illustrators, such as this one: Cinderella, by Izawa, T. And K. Kawamoto  Hard Cover. Grosset & Dunlap (1972)  but even they are expensive.
I had one of these books as a small child.  It was The Frog Prince. A publication date of the early 70's would coincide with my early childhood. I remember the ridged plastic on the cover, but I don't remember the cover picture changing.  The pages were cardboard and text was sparse.  The color pictures inside were photographs of dolls beautifully dressed (fabric gowns, etc.) and positioned with props (like a diorama). I still remember the dolls' solid color eyes (no pupil or white part) - turquoise and sea green.  Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I'm just sorry I wasn't able to get my mother to save this book it's one of my all-time favorites.
Was it possibly one of the 3D Fairy Tales series (1960's)?  These can be recognized by the plastic 3D images pasted on the covers and by the interior illustrations of puppet scenes photographed by Izawa & Hijikata.  These were first published by Shiba in Tokyo and were republished in the US by both Golden Press and Grosset and Dunlap.  I don't know if there was an anthology.
F66 I think the person may be thinking of books by Izawa and Hijikata, published by Grosset and Dunlap. They had a series called Puppet Pop-Up Book and another calles Puppet Storybook (also saw it listed as Living Story Book series, but I can't verify if that's correct or if that's a series by someone else) I found a listing for Fairy Tales: A Puppet Treasure Book and also A Puppet Treasure Book of Nursery Tales. I don't know if they are one and the same, or if this is even the correct book.   Golden Press also put out a series of fairy tales with 3D / hologram / lenticular covers. However, as far as I can tell, they were individual  books, not a collection. To see some pictures, go to here or there.   ~from a librarian
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It was a big white bound hardcover book full of fairy stories. The most significant and unusual thing about this book was that the stories were illustrated by large photographs of puppet-like dolls dressed in costumes made of beautiful materials and beads etc., and set in scenes made up to fit the stories. The puppets/dolls were also made of cloth.   There were really quite beautiful, and the photographs were in full colour.  It would have been given to me new in the mid-to-late 1960's or early 1970's. The story I can definitely remember that is in the book was The Ugly Duckling, but I am a bit vague about the others - probably Cinderella and/or Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, the usual classic fairy stories. I hope you can help me! I threw the book away years ago but have since regretted it and I have never seen a copy of it anywhere.

F182 Just a hunch, but this may be A PUPPET TREASURE BOOK OF NURSERY TALES by Izawa & Hijikata, 1967, 1977.~from a librarian
Thanks for that! but I'm pretty sure 'puppet' wasn't in the title unfortunately. They weren't really puppets (I might have been a bit misleading there), they had no strings - more like elaborate cloth dolls - smaller than rag dolls and more postured - not meant for playing with!
Despite the "puppet" issue, the Izawa & Hijikata books do sound very much like your stumper. The "puppet" part of the title was pretty small and understated.
Yes you are right! I have just seen your solution on the Solved Mysteries page (for another person with a similar question) which has links to images of books by the same author/illustrator. The images are absolutely in the same style as I remember in the book! That is so wonderful. Thank you.
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This was the first book I remember from childhood, and I had it in the early ‘70’s. It was a large-format board book with a yellow padded cover. There was a hologram picture pasted on the front cover. Each board page inside had small animal ‘dolls’ posed with other miniature props to illustrate each nursery rhyme. My cousin had the same book and remembers that hers had “Puss in Boots” (with the same posable ‘dolls’) in the hologram on the front cover.

Izawa & Hijikata, A Puppet Treasure Book of Nursery Tales, 1971, approximate.  I found this on a solved stumper, and I think this is the one that I remember. There are some on e-bay and the pictures of the pages look exactly like I remember -- and I was WRONG! There were animals, but the pictures were dolls (people).

the title is  The puppy who chased the sun by Le Grand.
Recently I stumbled into your "Stump-the-Bookseller" site and was astonished (and delighted) to learn that mine is not the only family on the planet which remembers two particular books. One query was about a dog named Wilbur, the puppy who barked up the sun. The book is The Puppy Who Chased the Sun (Story and pictures by Le Grand, c. 1950 by Wonder Books). It is about the size of a Golden Book, 8 1/4" by 6 1/2", with a green, cellophane-coated cover, the title in yellow letters, and a cocky-looking Irish setter puppy on the front. In it, Wilbur concludes that since the sun rises while he is barking, it is he who makes the sun come up. He becomes an intolerable companion until a couple of rainy mornings expose to him his logical fallacy and restores him to humility and his friends. It is very well-told.
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This book (possibly a golden book) I memorized when I was befroe the age of five.  I was born in 1945 and I don't think the book was one of my older sister's books.  The story is about a mutt or strange looking dog who has no special qualities and who feels left out of the neighborhood gang of dogs.  One morning he howls at the dark just as the sun is rising and after doing that twice, he brags to other dogs in the neighborhood that he is the dog who makes the sun come up.  He is popular until one morning when all the dogs are gathered around him for the morning sun miracle and it is a rainy day.  HE howls and howls and no sun comes up.  His "friends" leave him and ...........I CANNOT REMEMBER WHAT DOES HAPPEN TO OLD TOOTHY PERKINS!!!!!!! It may be Toothey Perkins in spelling also.  I have spent over two hours just playing with and enjoying your Web Site.  Many good memories.  Thank you for putting your talents to work for people like ME.

The Puppy Who Chased The Sun by Le Grand Henderson.
Le Grand Henderson, The Puppy Who Chased the Sun, 1950.  This is definitely the book.  Found the solution on another book search website. Enjoy! Wonder Books, New York 1950

Coatsworth, Elizabeth, Pure magic, 1973, reprinted in 1975 as The Fox Boy.  Johnny forms a friendship with the new boy at school but is puzzled by his strangeness.
Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth, The Werefox, April 1975.  Also known under the title of Pure Magic. Here is the description from the web: "It is a pleasant, little book with nice illustrations. It is about a friendship between two boys, one of whom is a werefox. Johnny Dunlap (the main character) quickly befriends his new neighbour, Giles Dumont. Johnny notices that Giles and his mother seem rather strange but can't figure out what is strange about them. He soon finds out that Giles is capable of taking on the form of a fox at will (an ability that runs in his mother's side of the family). Johnny is concerned about the strained relations between Giles and his father, Mr. Dumont. The story is unclear as to why Giles' father doesn't like his son  but it is clear that they don't get along. Johnny works hard throughout the book to improve relations between father and son, and the story does have a happy ending. I think this is a nice book for children and adults alike, especially those interested in werefoxes (stories about wertefoxes can be hard to find)."
Most likely The Werefox, aka Pure Magic (1975), by Elizabeth Coatsworth, author of The Cat Who Went to Heaven. Johnny Dunlap is from New England, Giles Dumont (the werefox) is French Canadian. There are dangerous foxhounds in the book. 

G12 is Pursuit by Robert L. Fish Doubleday, 1978 The Tv movie was a Twist of Fate starring Ben Cross. 

Jan Wahl, Push Kitty, 1968.  This sure sounds like one of my favorites! A little girl dresses her white kitten in a pink nightgown and hat, then pushes her "baby" around town in a doll buggy to show him off.  The story does have words, but only a line or two on each page.  The next to last page features the words, "Baby, you are pretty lucky to have a mama like me." followed on the final page by the words, "Don't you agree?" accompanied by a picture of the kitten, finally out of his clothes, making a wild dash for freedom. The charming illustrations by Garth Williams are colored in soft tones of yellow-green and pink.  The facial expressions of both the little girl and the kitten are priceless!
Thank you!  This is exactly the book for which I have been searching.  My mother and I are thrilled to have found it for my daughter.

D34 is Put Me in the Zoo, by Robert Lopshire Beginner Books, Random House, 1960
It's the changing-color spots, isn't it?  Sounds likely.
Is this Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire (1960)?
This IS a Beginner Book called Put Me in the Zoo.  I can't remember the author off the top of my head but it should be easy to find.
D34 is definitely Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire.  It's a I Can Read It All By Myself  Beginner Book
published by Random House 1960.  There have been many reprints and it is still in print.
PUT ME IN THE ZOO by Robert Lopshire, 1960.
The book for D34 is Put Me In The Zooby Robert Lopshire which is still in print. It is very similar in style to the Dr. Suess type books and is an Early Reader I believe. The animal can throw his spots, change their colors and juggle them trying to impress the boy and girl to get into the zoo.
D34 -- This one is called I want to be in the Zoo or something similar.  The dog/animal is showing two
children all the nifty, magical things he can do, hoping to be put in the zoo.
The book about the creature that can change the color of his spots is Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire.
D34 "Dog who can throw his spots" is Put Me In The Zoo, by Robert Lopshire. It'ss on the Children's Favorites page in SPECIALS.  ...This is a fabulous and fascinating site; I just discovered it a few days ago, and am already addicted!!
This is a Beginner Book called Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire.  I should know - it's one of my 4-year-old's favorites, and I just about have it memorized!
I thing that the title of this book is Put me in a Zoo.  The Dog? wanted to be in the zoo, but in the end the joined the circus.  This book as one of the Cat in the Hat books.  It was part of the middle group, more advanced
than In a People House and Go, Dog Go, but easier reading that The Cat in the Hat.  I hope this helps.

Not sure about this, because it could be his nickname and not a real wolf at all:  Leon W. Dean Old Wolf: the Story of Israel Putnam New York, Farrar & Rinehart 1942, 276 pages. "A biography for children. Israel Putnam was one of the most vivid and important figures in the early history of our country. This bluff old general had the dry wit, the tenacity, the cleverness of a CT Yankee. This book is written for high school level readers."
P71 putnam and the wolf: this looks more like the right length - The Jezebel Wolf, by F.N. Monjo, illustrated by John Schoenherr, published Simon & Schuster 1971, 47 pages. "Israel Putnam recounts for his sons the hunt for the dangerous Jezebel wolf whose pelt covers their bed." Couldn't find a description of the cover, though, and it may be too late. I'm wondering how likely an English publication is, though, since the story wanted is almost certainly based on a bit of American history.
Putnam and the Wolf: Or, The Monster Destroyed -- an address delivered at Pomfret, Con., October 28, 1829, before the Windham Co. Temperance Society.  Rev. John Marsh, secretary of the Connecticut Temperance Society.  Hartford [Conn.] : D.F.Robinson & Co., Peter B. Gleason & Co., Printers.  Also published by the American Tract Society, 1830.  24 pg.  There are several copies in libraries across the US, mostly college libraries.  Ask your local library to get a copy for you through Interlibrary Loan.
Found in a children's collection, Story Parade- Putnam's Cave  by Harriet Smith Hawley (1938) Tale documents the hunt
for and the cornering of an enormous wolf in Pomfret,Conn. by Israel Putnam.

This description reminds me of Masquerade by Kit Williams, though that book was published in the early 1980's.  The text and illustrations were clues that lead to the discovery of a treasure.  There was an actual treasure, worth something like $10,000, that readers competed to find - whoever got it first got to keep it.
Paul Adshead, Puzzle Island, 1996.  It was not the Masquerade book, but the reply helped me to find a webpage about puzzle books like Kit Williams's.  There I was able to find the book that I have been searching for.  Thank you so much for all of your help - this website is a true blessing!
Paul Adshead, Puzzle island.  I can't figure this book out! even with help from my mom and cousin.
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Hey!  Okay, I'm looking for an animal book I read in 1993-94.   I don't remember much about it, but I recall the illustrations being incredibly detailed - Graeme Base-like, but not cartoon-y.  I'm uncertain as to the plot of the book, or if it even had text, but I'm think there was a safari aspect to it.  The goal was to find animals hidden within the each scene, and every page was bordered with letters in seemingly-random order, but if you started at the right one and skipped every other letter, you would spell out different species of animals.   help help help!

Paul Adshead, Puzzle Island, 1996.  I'm sure this is the book you're looking for.  The book is a complex puzzle, with many levels to solve.  My daughter and I worked it several years ago and it took about a week of evenings to get through the whole thing.  Our copy was purchased through Discovery Toys, but I looked on-line and it seems to be readily available through the typical on-line sources, if you don't find it in a bookstore.  Advice: don't buy a written-in used copy. To properly solve involves some writing in the book, so a used copy would be like cheating!
Graeme Base, The Eleventh Hour, 1993.  Sounds like The Eleventh Hour. The question even mentions Graeme Base specifically. I really enjoyed this book as a kid. Hope it's what they were looking for!
Paul Adshead, Puzzle Island.YESSSSS!   my hero!

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