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It's from '88, but Harriet Ziefert's A Clean House for Mole & Mouse does have a mouse (& a mole) doing housework. Don't remember whether they do laundry.
I am pretty sure that this is not the book because I read it when I was young (late 70s to early 80s) and I was 13 in 1988.  But thank you for trying!  I have been looking for the book for so long and I am glad I found your website to help me out.
Enid Blyton , Mary Mouse series.  These were somewhat 'comic-strip-like' books about a mouse who was a
sort of nanny/ housekeeper in a dolls house. There are many other possibilities: Alison Uttley's Little Brown Mouse books;  Rosalind Vallance's Tittymouse and Tattymouse books;  Jessie Howe's The Mouse Family at Home  and Michelle Cartlidge's Mouse House and Mousework.
Your website is absolutely fantastic!  I've been looking through it to see if I knew any of the books and it's so much fun to do it!  I was very excited that I knew three of them.  I'm also the person who posted "M18 Mouse Housework" quite a while ago and unfortunately, none of the listed suggestions, except for Jessie Howe's The Mouse Family at Home, have turned out to be the right one.  I can't find a copy of Jessie Howe's book to see if it is the right one.  I think she may also have written books under "Jessie Howe Clark," but I am not sure.  I'll keep checking back and see if anyone else has listed any new suggestions!
The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter is a book where two mice decide to raid a dollhouse while the dolls are away.  Later on they feel bad and clean up the house for the dolls. See the last page here.

There is a book called 1 O'Clock in the Button Factory by Beatty, but I don't know if it's the same one referred to.  It is blurbed as "if you don't know what the title means you have and overdeveloped misery gap!" The cast of characters includes Alvin Karpis, a Russian newsman, Haterhton Allen who does business in a bikini, and Dr. Stookey who is studying humor.  It is published by Macmillan.
Maybe Marie Hall Ets' first Mr Penny book? He works in a safety pin factory to support his animals, who eventually take up farming to help pay their way. First published by Viking in 1935, with 2 sequels at least. I
couldn't find much on the first one, though.
Well, the title of this sounds good, too bad there's no plot description: Heal, Edith, Mr. Pink and the House on the Roof  illustrated by Cay Ferry, published New York, Julian Messner, 1941 (ad Horn Book Sep-Oct/41 p.338)
Only because of the title - Mr. Pingle and Mr. Buttonhouse, by Ellen MacGregor, illustrated by Paul Galdone, published Whittlesey House 1957, 32 pages "Wonderful things happen when Mr. Pingle decides to visit Mr. Buttonhouse - and vice versa!" (Horn Book Dec/57 p.439 pub ad) The Heal title sounds like a better bet.
Edith Heal, Mr. Pink and the House on the Roof, 1941. There's a copy of this book for sale on ebay right now, #7041522279.  The synopsis the seller gives is "A very charming story about a rotund Mr. Pink and his button factory that gave off a lovely glow at night."  The book ends with Mr. Pink's realization that zippers were good for some things, and buttons were good for others, and that sometimes people wanted new things, but sometimes the old things are best.

Title sounds right, pity there's no real plot description: Merry Mushroom, A Lore Book, translated from the Dutch, Wendy Wilkin, Sandle Bros, 1972 [22]pp, hb, 8 x 10 inches. A woodland story about mushrooms and toadstools, with pretty coloured illustrations"
Anon, Merry Mushroom.

Elizabeth Goudge, The Valley of Song,1951.  This might well be the one.  Though the main character is a little girl, not a girl and a boy, the adult characters keep turning into children, and at one point the girl and her father as a boy go through a wooden door to meet Vulcan.  They follow this up by a meeting with Taurus, not Pegasus, but it still sounds plausible.
Donahey, Mary Dickerson, Peter and Prue, pictures by Harold Gaze.  Chicago, Rand McNally 1934.  I wonder if it could be this one? The cover pastedown shows a chariot with Mercury leading it. "This story really began when Peter was only six months old, and rolled away, and was lost under a sofa for two hours.." A funny story about two little runaways with magical illustrations by Harold Gaze. Unlike many children's books from this era, Donahey's text still reads well and paired with Gaze's magical illustrations, this book has classic appeal." There's a bit more description on the Solved Page, but the children visit the Moon, and Olympus, and Valhalla, apparently. Gaze's illustration may strike a chord.

M37 long shot, since I've never seen the book - Ryerson Johnson "The Mouse and the Moon" E.M. Hale & Co, 1968 Lignell, Lois, Illustrator ?  Or (still not likely) "Merry Mouse And His Trip To The Moon", a "Jolly Book". L Miller & Son, London and Ayer & James Pty. Melbourne & Sydney. 1953,  A mouse and his friends travel to the moon in a space rocket.  Or (rather old)  HOLLEYMAN Jo MOUSE IN THE MOON Sandle Brothers 1st edn 1947
As for a mouse on the moon, I've been surprised how many books I've seen with mice and rocketships, etc., both in the Little Golden/Rand McNally/Tell-a-Tale/Wonder Books variety, as well as others.
I had this book as a child and I still think the title is Moon Mouse. It was about a young meadow mouse who is fascinated by the moon and sits and looks at it every night from the opening of his burrow where he lives with his mother. His mother tells him the moon is made of green cheese. One night he decides to make a journey to find the moon, and he travels until he sees the moon seemingly on top of a building. He climbs to the top of the building and looking in a window, sees an enormous wheel of cheese upon a table which he believes is the moon. He eats and eats and eats, and finally climbs down and returns home. Then he and his mother sit at the opening of their burrow the next night and look up at the sky and the moon is a crescent. The little mouse believes it is that way because he ate it very nearly all up. The illustrations were nice black and white drawings...
Yet another possibility - Gordon, Elizabeth: THE TALE OF JOHNNY MOUSE ; Volland, 1920. Paper Covered Boards, 12mo Little Johnny Mouse, who lives in the attic with the rest of the Gray Mouse family, decides to travel to the moon and sample the green cheese there. Another lovely fantasy with superb color illustrations by the sister of Frank Lloyd Wright (Volland's "Sunny Book" series). Maginel Wright Enright, illustrator.
Evers, Helen and Alf, Moonymouse, 1956, copyright.  I too have been looking for the same book as the poster - where the mouse eats the moon and it's made of cheese and the next night there is a crescent.  Today I came across the name of the Moonymouse.  The cover looks so familiar but I am not able to find out what the inside of the book is about.  Maybe this will help the original poster.  The book the OP is talking about was my absolute favorite when I was 2 and 3.

This could be Miss Osborne-the-Mop by Wilson Gage. Jody and Dill, cousins who originally aren't fond of each other, spend the summer together. They discover Jody has magical powers when she says "Oh, shut up and be a squirrel" and Dill turns into a squirrel. They make the mop come to life and spend the summer hiding the mop-lady and keeping her happy.  At the end, Jody no longer needs the temporary glasses she has been wearing and they discover that's where her magical power came from. However, this is not a first or second grade book.  This a chapter book, probably upper elementary.
M39: there was a book about magic glasses by Ruth Chew from the 50's...the housekeeper/nanny had a magic bag and could pull things out of it, stare at the object with the magic glasses, and bring the thing to life.  "glasses" were in the title, I'm pretty sure.
I wouldn't say that Ruth Chew is really at a grade 1 or 2 reading level, any more than the Wilson Gage book is. The Gage book does have a boy turned into a squirrel, at least. At the right reading level is Katie's Magic Glasses, by Jane Goodsell, illustrated by Barbara Cooney, published Houghton Mifflin 1965, 42 pages. "When Katie put on her first pair of glasses, 'She could see magic! She really could, just as the doctor said she would.' A story that almost makes you wish that you needed glasses too. Ages 5-8." (HB Apr/65 p.134 pub ad) The story is told in rhyme. No decent plot info, though.

could this be one of the Miss Pickerell stories, by Ellen MacGregor? They were illustrated by Charles Geerand often had science-fiction elements.

There was another series of books in the 1950's that was similar to the Little Golden Books and Elf Books called Jolly Books put out by Avon Publishing.  One of their titles was The Jolly Book of Mother Goose.  A recently solved book stumper, The Magic Key, that was thought to be a Little Golden Book or Elf Book turned out to be a Jolly Book so this may be worth a try as well.
A number of choices: Wonder Books- #501- Mother Goose illustrated by Joseph Hirsh(1946). This was produced with several different covers over the years. Also, Wonder Book of Favorite Nursery Tales #730-illustrated by Peller. These were produced by Grosset&Dunlap. This company also produced Treasure Books. They share some titles.The Treasure Book of Favorite Nursery Tales #856 illus. by Peller. Tell-a Tale books by Whitman has The Bedtime Book # 2475-32 by Mabel Watts (1963). Also: Cradle Rhymes #894 by Gladys Horn (1949)  Humpty Dumpty and Other Nursery Rhymes #2610- by Rod Ruth (197?)  Jolly Jingles # 899-by Florence Alexander(1959)  Little Folks in Mother  Goose #863- illus. by Rachel (1946) Mother Goose #2572- illus. by Charles Clement (1955): Mother Goose #925 illus.by Ellen Fox Vaughn (1950) Mother Goose # 2511-illus. by Lucille Wallace (1958) Nursery Rhymes #857-illus by Louise Altson (1945). Sure hope something in there helps!!
Marguirite de Angeli, Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes, 1953.  I, too, was young in the 50's and had a Mother Goose Book I treasured.  I have since identified the book as Marguerite de Angeli's Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes.  It had a cardboard cover which showed many of the nursery rhyme characters including children in period costume.  Each page includes black & white illustrations (such as a cow on hind legs dancing with a bagpipe player or each of the birds of "Who Killed Cock Robin"). As well there are occasional full-page color illustrations.

M58 mother dies: the same query is on the Alibris list, with no success yet, but suggesting that the boy may have been named Beanie as well as wearing one. So, probably not Beany Malone by Lenora Mattingly Weber, published Crowell 1948, which is about a girl, though in the first book, Meet the Malones, the mother has been dead for three years. It doesn't really sound like Ruth and Latrobe Carroll's Beanie, published Walck 1953 either, with Beanie and his dog Tough Enough on a bear hunt in the mountains. There's another Beanie, by Susan B. Consky, published by the Moody Bible Institute, 1951, but that's about Beanie and his dog Scamp on Grandpa's farm.
Ray Bradbury, I Sing The Body Electric, 1969.  See Twilight Zone website.  It's a long shot, but I think you may be looking for "I Sing The Body Electric", a short story by Ray Bradbury in a book by the same name.  Nine year old Timothy, ten year old Agatha and thirteen year old Thomas are left without maternal care until their father buys them an Electric Grandmother.  There was another TV version in 1982 starring Maureen Stapleton.   Agatha resists bonding with the electrical grandma because she fears grandma will leave just like her mother did.  Even if it's not the story you're looking for, it's well worth reading  it's a wonderful story of coming to terms with grief and loss.  There's a very cool part of the story when the electric grandma flies a kite with the kids using "silk" that she emits from a fingertip the same way a spider ejects its web.  Also has references to a poem by Walt Whitman by the same name.  Bradbury borrowed the title and then makes the story his own.  Highly recommended!
John Bellairs, The Figure in the Shadows. (1985, approximate)  I submitted this stumper ages ago.  I now know that I was describing two separate books.  Unfortunately, I still don't know what the first book was (the one about the mother writing a letter by the moon), but the second book is definitely The Figure in the Shadows.

 Is there any chance this is Down a Dark Hallway by Lois Duncan? A young girl successfully applies to a very select boarding school (five students, or so) and the teachers are using the students to channel great works
by dead artists.  The protagonist sleepwalks and channels piano concertos, which the teachers record and then pass on to the public as "discovered."
Oh, that sounds very neat!  I can't believe I haven't read that one - I'm a musician and love spooky stuff, so you'd think I'd have found it by now! But, I don't think it's this one.  I specifically remember this girl - she's about 16-18 proclaiming her love for the teacher and actually trying, in a fairly innocent way, to seduce him, wearing the dead wife's flowing robes (a la Rebecca, I guess...).  He's chivalrous and clever enough to realize what's going on and rejects her advances.  Is there a love subplot going on in Lois' book?  I can't remember other students being there in my book - this girl was just there to practice for 8 hours a day and have constant lessons with him.  But I'm going to look for the book you mentioned and see if that might be it.  I remember it was a paperback, and the mystery title was written in the script reserved for romance novels - all flowy and cascading down the page.
The Inheritor, Marion Zimmer-Bradly, 1980's. This is a similar story. About a psychologist who has a young 17 yo sister called Emily(?)who is training to be concert pianist.They move to a new house in San Francisco which wis haunted.They meet Simon Anstey, godson of the former owner and famous pianist. He becomes romantically involved with the elder sister. There are lots of bits about witch craft, the occult and sacrifices

There's A Treasure Ship of Old Quebec by Ethel Hume Bennett, published by Macmillan in the 1930s. "Four children with a natural bent for history spend a happy summer holiday exploring old Quebec, their adventures being given a slight background of mystery and excitement by the existence of certain long-lost heirlooms." But no indication that it was a series.
#M63--Montreal Series:  Just picked up "Mystery in Old Quebec," by Mary C. Jane, Lippincott, 1955.  Doubtful this is it.  The two children, Mark and Kerry, travel to Canada with their father.  Their mother stays home with their little brother, Tim, and they don't figure in the story at all.  With two boys, Louis and Edgar, whom Mark and Kerry befriend, it does add up to four.
Thanks so much for the personal reply!  I haven't checked back on the site for awhile to see if there were any responses.   I don't think that title is right - this was definitely a series, and there was a mystery in each one.  The heirloom part sounds familiar though - I may try to get a synopsis of that book and see if some other parts of it fit the bill.
M63 Montreal series: more of a description of one suggestion, but doesn't pin it down much! Mystery of Old Quebec, by Mary C. Jane, illustrated by Ray Abel, published Lippincott 1955. A 1956 Selection of the Weekly Reader Children's Book Club. Hardcover, 123 pages, 8 1/4" x 5 1/2", Contents: A Room with a Fireplace; The missing Jacket; A strange Message; A daring decision; Rue Sous Le Cap; The French Evening; An exciting Rescue; A New Friend; Voices in the Next Room; At the Foot of the Elevator; The Big Dog; But They are Indians. (The whole story deals with a trip to Quebec City and the adventures following in this ancient city.)
Hilda Van Stockum?, Canadian Summer, Friendly Gables? late '40s, early '50s. This is quite a long shot, since I don't remember the mystery part (seems to me the Mitchell children's problems revolved around school and family, but in one book one of Peter's classmates was stealing or cheating or something, and he and his sister Patsy had to find out who it was because Peter was being blamed), but there is a lot of description and atmosphere. A sample of one book is here.
Hello -- A Google search led me to your site.  I'm trying to track down a  book that sounds like it could be the same one as M63.  Unfortunately, I don't  have any additional clues about the text to offer, but I do remember it had  wonderful black-and-white line drawings.  I think there was one of a sleigh taking  everyone home in the snow.  I hope this provides an additional lead.  I absolutely loved this book--I checked it out of my school library almost every year while in elementary school during the second half of the 1960s.  I never remembered the title, then, either--I had to go find it on the shelf. Thanks for providing an opportunity to finally track it down again.
How about the Canadian -Secret Circle Mysteries from the 1960's? I have never read them, just came upon a reference and thought it might be worth a look!
Hello -- A Google search led me to your site.  I'm trying to track down a  book that sounds like it could be the same one as M63.  Unfortunately, I don't  have any additional clues about the text to offer, but I do remember it had  wonderful black-and-white line drawings.  I think there was one of a sleigh taking  everyone home in the snow.  I hope this provides an additional lead.  I  absolutely loved this book--I checked it out of my school library almost every year  while in elementary school during the second half of the 1960s.  I never  remembered the title, then, either--I had to go find it on the shelf. Thanks for providing an opportunity to finally track it down again.
I've checked out all the titles suggested but none of them fit.

M-68 may be A Dream To Touch by Anne Emery.  In that book the main character--Marya--plays a violin and is involved in great competition for first chair.
This looks like the same book as G 48: The Maggie B by Irene Haas.  It's recently been reprinted and is an adorable book.
This is apparently not The Maggie B, which is described on the Solved page.

Is this Moonface by Jack London?
M73 moonface: maybe this one? The Angry Moon, by William Sleator, illustrated by Blair Lent, published Atlantic-Little 1970. "Tlingit motifs and an economy of text tell this legend of an Indian boy who, assisted by a grandmother's magic, rescues an Indian girl being held prisoner by the angry moon because she laughed at his ugly face. Ages 7-10." (Picture Books for Children, Patricia Cianciolo, ALA 1973 p.91) There is a children's book called Moonface, by Gerda Marie Scheidl and Antoni Boratynski, translated from the German by Richard Sadler, published Sadler 1971, 31 pages, but I don't have a plot description yet. The library databases only have a subject tracing under Painting - Fiction and Moon - Fiction, if that's any help.
There is not a chance that Jack London's Moonface is the one required. It's a revenge story involving two men, a dog and a stick of dynamite.
Martin Rafe, the Rough-face Girl. (1992) Could the name be wrong?  This is an Algonquin version of Cinderella.
Little Scarface.  I wonder if M73 might be the old Indian legend of Scarface which is told by the Blackfoot, Mi'qmah and many other northern Indian people. It's kind of like Cinderella. There's a great hunter who is invisible, but very nice and all the girls want to marry him. His sister Patience vets possible brides by asking if they can see his bowstring or the shoulder strap on his carry-bag (or the cord on his sled). (In some versions he's called Big Moose, in others he's just the Hidden One). Scarface is called that because her cruel sister throws burning twigs at her when their father is away. Dad believes all the sister's lies why Scarface is burnt, how she lost her hair, etc. Sis has a try at Big Moose, makes something up and loses. Scarface goes in her tattered rags and helps Patience make dinner. When Big Moose comes home she cries out that his bowstring is a rainbow and the shoulder strap on his bag is made of stars. This proves she is pure of heart, and Big Moose becomes visible and warmly greets her as his fiancee. Patience washes her in magic water, curing her injuries, and renames her Beautiful.

This one is a bit of a stretch, but I have The Mystery of the Flying Skeleton, A Power Boys Mystery.  The brothers help discover mastodon bones during the constuction of a motel in Florida.  Their photographer father is along to take photos. This one is probably late '60s.
Maybe, The Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones, by Mary Adrian, illustrated by Lloyd Coe, published New York, Hastings House 1965 "An easy-reading mystery about two boys and a girl on a fossil hunt in Utah. Information on prehistoric animals is woven into the text, plus a factual supplement. Ages 9-12, grades 4-6, 128 pages." 'Chris and Ken were twins, They had blue eyes, freckles, and bright red hair. This Friday morning, they were cleaning the house and looking forward to a letter from Marty Taylor, their friend down the street, who had gone on a camping trip with his parents to dinosaur country in Utah.'
another possible title is Dinosaur Dilemma, by Lois Breitmeyer and Gladys Leithauser, illustrated by Lois Malloy, published Golden Gate Junior Books 1964, "Mark Speer and Tommy Coleman intended to spend their summer vacation rock hunting until the unearthed what proved to be a huge dinosaur bone."
Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave.  This is probably far out in left field.  But Danny Dunn and his friends go on an expedition in a cave with the Professor and they find a large intact skeleton of a dinosaur.  At one point, they use an x-ray machine to see through walls and they think the Professor is in a cage when really he was standing in the middle of the rib cage of the dinosaur skeleton.
How about Stolen Bones by Joan Carris?

According to a page I have bookmarked, American Women Playwrights 1900-1950, something called Mickey's Marker was published in 1930 by a Leota Hulse Black.  Sorry that it doesn't give any more information, but it might be a clue.
Leota Hulse Black, Mickey's Marker. Like the requester's father, I also recited Mickey's Marker.  In my case, it was for a high school prize speaking contest in 1958.  The author is Leota Hulse Black and the piece is a short story, as I recall, not a poem.  A real tearjerker.  But who is Leota Hulse Black?  Have found very little about her on line.'

Not that I supppose it has much bearing, but Miss Bickerton is a character in Jane Austen's Emma.  She is a boarder at Mrs. Goddard's (along with Harriet Smith).
Couldn't find anything involving bickerton, but there's Miss Slimmens' Boarding House, by Metta Victoria Fuller Victor, published New York, Ogilvie, 1882. No plot description available though. Less likely is Jenny Wren's Boarding House: a Story of Newsboy Life in New York by James Otis, illustrated by W.S. rogers, published Boston, Estes & Lauriat 1893, still no plot description but the subtitle gives a hint. And just perhaps - Mrs. Leicester's school; or, the history of several young ladies related by themselves by Charles and Mary Lamb, published by Dent, 1920s? "The experiences of Mrs. Leicester's ten pupils herein related differ largely. Miss Louisa Manners, aged seven, tells of a memorable visit to her grandmother's farm, while Miss Ann Withers recounts the dramatic story of how she was changed for the baby of a noble family and how she herself brought about her own downfall. The immaculateness of the telling throughout does Mrs. Leicester great credit." (Books for Boys and Girls, 1927 Toronto Public Library)
Also possible - Becky's Boarding House: a Brownie Scout Story, by Eleanor Thomas, illustrated by Gertrude Howe, published Scribner 1952, 119 pages "Brownie Scouts and their doings make up this story book for girls of 9 to 10." (Book Review Digest 1952)
Metta Victoria Victor, Miss Slimmens' Boarding House, 1887.  Sounds the most likely. Other possibilities include L.T. Meade's The Girls of Mrs. Pritchard's School (1904  also others by this author) Evelyn Everett Green's Miss Greyshott's Girls (1907)  or Mabel Tyrrell's Miss Pike and Her Pupils (1928).

I vividly remember the "Elevator Operator" story from a mid-1970's Scholastic paperback called Strange but True: (some number) Amazing Stories.  The black-and-white illustration of the operator terrified me.
This sounds like it could be an answer someone gave for another stumper, STRANGE BUT TRUE; 22 Amazing Stories by Donald J. Sobol  ~from a librarian
c.b. colby, strangely enough!  I remember a Scholastic paperback of this in my 2nd grade classroom. Intended for older than 2nd grade obviously. Lots of ghost stories, some factual (the "Mary Celeste" incident), some rumor-y (Loch Ness monster) Definite "Twilight Zone"/"Ripley's Believe it or Not" feel. Colby was also the author of books about military hardware for budding warriors -- many titles of which "Arms and armor of Our Fighting Men" is the only one I can remember.
I am also looking for a book that seems close to this description... The only thing I can recall is the cover; a painting version of the Bigfoot film taken by Roger Patterson, and other monsters. I also recall that a number of the stories inside were of legendary beasts and animals, including the hoop snake, a weird beast that had legs shorter on one side, and always had to run on the hillsides; & the Jersey Devil. also "strange being" stories like Springheel Jack and the Mad Gasser of Matoon.  If this seems to be the same book, I am crazy to find it as it was one of my favorites between 7th and 9th grades, when I lost it in a move.

David Eddings, Belgariad (series of 5), 1980s.  Some similarities in this series to what is remembered by the poster - they are not technically children's books, but when I worked in public libraries (until 1990) the series was bought for 'young adult' as well as 'adult fiction' sections of the library. Can't remember the individual titles, and there was a second series called the Malloreon which too the story further. There is certainly a sword that in the last book of the first series (the Belgariad) 'blushes' when put at or outside the door of the nuptial chamber when Garath and C'nedra finally consumate their marriage.
Eddings, David, Belgariad/ Mallorean, 1980s.  Further info on the two series mentioned:  Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Enchanter's Endgame. Mallorean: Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, Seeress of Kell
Rosemary Sutcliffe, The Mark of the Horse Lord.  Don't remember about the sword in the bed, but definitely a warrior-like and warring hero and heroine in the medieval The Mark of the Horse Lord. Marketed to teens, but really bordering on adult rather than young adult.  The two were betrothed, but as a ritual the man had to hunt the woman on horseback in the beginning.  Odds are placed in his favor by mounting her on a tired horse and (???) binding her hands???  Anyway, he catches her and she tries to knife him, but he disarms her . . . but that's just how they get together.  They are betrothed as an alliance of clans, etc.  The focus of the book is on the warring over the kingdoms, etc.  Sound like your book?
Sorry, this one is NOT David Eddings.  I know those books backwards and forwards.  The relationship sounds a little similar to the main characters, but those two are never allowed to sleep in the same tent, let alone the same bed.
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Rose of the Prophet trilogy, 1989.  I'm not sure if these are the books the poster is looking for.They're definitely NOT for children...I would put them in the mature category, but the two main (human) characters are a man and a woman who are betrothed to each other, even though their families are enemies. They spend the three books going on a Great Quest, and they not only start off sleeping with a naked sword between the two of them, but Zohra (the girl) tries to kill Khardan...more than once. The pantheon of the Gods is involved, as well as Angels, Wizards, Djin (one of whom is named Pukah) and demons.  This person might also be remembering a portion of one in Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. I think in the book about Mars, the man who becomes Mars is initially betrothed to a woman he doesn't know, and they are sent to a honeymoon palace, but spend the first number of nights in the same bed with an unsheathed sword between the two of them  I think they both loved someone else. Of course, they end up falling madly in love.  I can't remember what happens next, I do know that he becomes the god of War...  This person is definitely NOT talking the Belgariad or the Mallorean (although those series certainly merit a reading...or twelve), as Garion and Ce'Nedra never actually hate each other.
Tamora Pierce, Alanna. I don't remember the exact episode described, but could this be one of the books in the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce?  She wants to be a knight so originally poses as a boy.  of course as she grows up in later books her cover is blown.  After that romance does come into her relationship with her male companion.
Tamora Pierce, Song of the Lioness (Alanna) series.  This is NOT the answer to this stumper - I just read the Alanna series and she isn't betrothed to anyone, nor does she sleep with a sword between her and soneome else.
Jennifer Roberson, Sword Dancer.Might this be the first book of Jennifer Roberson's Sword Dancer series?  The plot involves a female sword dancer (warrior/duelist) who hires a male sword dancer to travel with her in search of her brother.  She doesn''t trust him in the beginning of the story but eventually they fall in love.  The sword in the middle of the bed rings a bell with me, and this is the first book I thought of upon reading that detail in the summary submitted by the original poster...hopefully I''m not mixing it up with some other book!
Rosemary Sutcliff, Song for a Dark Queen, 1979. Song for a Dark Queen by Rosemary Sutcliff doesn't fit this description terribly well, except for the fact that Boudicca (Boadicea), married unwillingly, puts her father's sword on the bed between herself and her new husband.  Eventually, when she finds that she loves him, the sword is put outside the door.  Perhaps the searcher is mixing this episode with the story from another book (or not - it may well be in the other book, but I thought it couldn't hurt to submit this)

Right on the tip of my tongue.  Wonderful poem.
Anna Maria Pratt, "A Mortifying Mistake" from Little Rhymes for Little People, 1896.
I studied my tables over and over, / and backward and forward, too / But I couldn't remember six times nine, / and I didn't know what to do, / Till sister told me to play with my doll, / and not to bother my head. / "If you call her `Fifty-four' for a while, / you'll learn it by heart," she said. / So I took my favorite, Mary Ann / though I thought 'twas a dreadful shame / To give such a perfectly lovely child / such a perfectly horrid name), / And I called her my dear little "Fifty-four" / a hundred times, till I knew / The answer of six times nine as well / as the answer of two times two. / Next day Elizabeth Wigglesworth, / who always acts so proud, / Said, "Six times nine is fifty-two," / and I nearly laughed aloud! / But I wished I hadn't when teacher said, / "Now, Dorothy, tell if you can." / For I thought of my doll and / --sakes alive!--I answer, "Mary Ann!"

Well, the date's right, anyway, maybe - Chipper, by Hortense Flexner, illustrated by Wyncie King, published Stokes 1941. "Though a real chipmunk sat for his picture in this realistic story, it is written with charm and a pleasant turn of fancy. Chipper was the member of a family who believed in giants and did not trouble to store up supplies for winter. That is, until he had tamed his giant animal who gave him sunflower seeds to carry away in his pouches. While Chipper was sure he had tamed his giant friend, the human giants felt the same way about him. An entertaining story for pet lovers, well illustrated." (Horn Book Sep/41 p.369)
M104 my little chipmunk: another possible title is Cheeky Chipmunk by Helen & Alf Evers, published Chicago, Rand-McNally 1945. "The tale of a chimpmunk who loves to tease but becomes the victim of one of his own pranks."
Could be Scatter the Chipmunk, by Catherine Cate Coblentz, illustrated by Berta Schwartz, published Chicago Childrens Press 1946, with four color illustrations and illustrated endpapers. "Story of the adventures of three young chipmunks and how old Grey Cat tries to catch them on their forays for food. Scatter, the baby in the chipmunk family, is always in trouble. However, a little girl looks after him."
This may be too late into the 1940's (1947), but as a child I had a beautiful book written and illustrated by Marjorie Torrey called Three Little Chipmunks.  Chuffy, Chirpy and Cheeky get into trouble for frightening Mr. Wren's chicks.  Cheeky is wrongly accused and is sent to bed without supper.  When the truth is learned, Cheeky's mother brings him a big bowl of ice cream, and he is later asked to "babysit" the Wren chicks.
McElroy and Younge (American Book Co.), Toby Chipmunk, 1937, copyright.  Hope this helps!  Toby Chipmunk is an early reader which I read in a Wisconsin one-room schoolhouse in the late forties - it's extremely difficult to find (I finally did get a copy) and not cheap! It's about talking, clothes-wearing chipmunk children who live with Grandma Chipmunk in her house in a hollow tree trunk.  A delightful little book.

Daniel Cohen, mid-late 70's.  I had that book also.  Can't recall the title offhand, but Daniel Cohen wrote several similar books during this period and they often appear on eBay.  I can tell you it is NOT Supermonsters.
If M105 is indeed a Daniel Cohen book, it's probably his Monsters, Giants and Little Men from Mars -- the date (1975) is right, and apparently this one does cover Mothman; not sure about the other beasties listed in question.

Mabel Esther Allan, The Mills Down Below, 1980.  It's a while since I read this, but the girl's age & the place would be right.  It was set just before the First World War & she was the daughter of a mill-owner who fought for the mill workers' & womens' rights.  I do have vague memories of it starting with finding a diary.

M110 musical notation characters: this is probably too early and too long, but just in case, Prince Melody of Music Land, written by Elizabeth Simpson, illustrated by Mary Virginia Martin, published by Knopf 1921, 183
pages, hardbound book that measures 5.5" by 8.25", pictorial binding. I have seen one illustration from this, the picture shows a witchy type with caption: "My name is Treble Clef" she piped.

M113: Sounds like The Green Isle (1974) by Philip Burton, adoptive father of Richard Burton! It's a
romantic fairy tale that takes place in Wales in the 11th century (the Norman invasion). Two lovers seek a place of permanent refuge and there's a beautiful island that they can only see from a certain point on the mainland - when they move, the isle magically disappears. A clever servant figures out that the only way to keep the isle in sight and thus reach it is to take the "vantage point" with them!
M113 This is just a guess, but could it be EVER-AFTER ISLAND by Elizabeth Starr Hill, 1977. A scientific expedition goes to an island (with some of the children of the scientists) and all the stuff of fairytales - elves, mermaids, etc. exist on this island. I have the hardcover, and it has a pale blue cover. ~from a librarian
Maybe - Fairwater, by Alastair Reid, illustrated by Walter Lorraine, published Houghton 1957. "Fairwater was a small island shaped like a sea horse ... a legend, a place too good to be true, too gay, too green, too
neat, too lovely for anyone in the Seven Kingdoms to risk a visit, lest they never come back. The most remarkable thing about it was that it was always Today on Fairwater. Scarcely less remarkable was its Princess Tiran who had suddenly appeared when Lorn the old magician was experimenting with a spell called 'How to Make Girls out of Air.' This is the story of the lovely Tiran with silky hair the color of wind, of Garth who loved her, and what happened when Phooph the glassblower of Croam put a strange glass curse upon Fairwater. The imaginative pictures make it a lovely book." (Horn Book Jun/57 p.222)
M113 magical island: More on one suggested - Ever-after Island, by Elizabeth Starr Hill, published 1977, 119 Pages. "Ryan and Sara Finney were used to exploring remote parts of the world; since their mother died, their fish-expert father had taken them on a number of expeditions. But never to an island that was only a dot marked with an X on a hand-drawn map. And certainly never with as secretive a leader as Dr. Moody Murk, who had already found the bones of a little manlike creature, unknown to science, and who was fanatically looking for the discovery of a lifetime. Ryan was especially curious about Dr. Murk's hoped-for scientific coup when he saw the ship the old man had chartered---strangely like a pirate vessel. And even more curious were the scientist's carefully guarded research souces---strangely like fairy tale volumes!" (from the dustjacket)
M113 magical island: also worth looking at is the Patricia Gordon / Joan Howard book The Oldest Secret, published Viking 1953. The boy in that goes to a magical island with a sunken forest, where he meets Robin Goodfellow and Pan, as well as dangers of various kinds.
M113 magic island: another possible is Children's Island, written and illustrated by Richard G. Robinson, published Dent 1971, 160 pages. "Darley has marigold coloured hair which seems on fire and an imagination which is on fire. His teacher puzzles but his mother accepts. In the tool shed his mind takes him on a journey to the island of tigers and children where realism is confined to the crotchety old Grumkin who is as far away as can be and where the evil monster Vambatta awaits destruction at his hands." (Children's Book Review Jun/71 p.91)
Could this one be Dean Marshall's The Invisible Island?
Definitely not Dean Marshall - The Invisible Island was about children in Connecticut, not a fantasy story.

The plot sounds like The Never-ending Story by Michael Ende, but the main character in that is a young boy, Bastien, and it was first published in the US in 1983. It's a common enough plot device, though.
Donaldson, Stephen, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever, 1977. Could it be the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson?  The protagonist is a leper shunned by his neighbors, cast off by his wife who takes their baby son with her.  He falls and hits his head and wakes up in "The Land" -- a beautiful country with giants and magic, but loomed over by evil Lord Foul, whom Thomas is summoned to conquer -- his white gold wedding ring plays a large part in the series. 

A similar story, though perhaps not the one wanted is The Toe-Rags: a Story of a Strange Bringing-up in Southern Rhodesia, by Daphne Anderson, published London, Methuen 1989, 373 pages. The narrator and her young brother are taken in by their estranged father's family after their mother vanishes. The brother is favoured, but Daphne is never accepted and is brought up largely by the black servants. Like most Rhodesians of the time, the family is more English than the English, and they reject her partly because they think she may have native blood. It may be too recent, though.
M119 sounds awfully familiar...could it be something by Isak Dinesen?  Do we know what the time period is?
Thank you for your prompt response! I really appreciate your help. The two possible answers given aren't correct. If I remember correctly, the time period the book was set in would probably be the 1930's, or there about. I even emailed CBS, but of course they never responded to my query. I'll keep checking back. Thank you again for your wonderful service!
Elspeth Huxley, The Flame Trees of Thika, 1959.  This might be it! Memories of an Africa Childhood by Elspeth Huxley. A famous book I believe.This was made into a movie in recent times, I remember catching a glimpse of it. I thought it was on PBS. Haley Mills, an adult, had a part.
This isn't The Flame Trees of Thika. In that memoir, the entire family goes to Africa (one parent is not dead) to run a coffee plantation.
This is not a solution, but does offer some more data on the TV episode.  I found a description in UNSOLD TELEVISION PILOTS: 1955 THROUGH 1988 by Lee Goldberg (McFarland, 1990) it's entry #2248 there.  The saliant bits:  TWO WORLDS (a.k.a. MY AFRICA).  60 minutes.  Airdate: 6/21/88. . . Writer: Blanche Hanalis. . . Aired as a segment of CBS SUMMER PLAYHOUSE.  This pilot, set in 1952, stars Carl Weintraub as Dr. Charles Marston, the son of British and American parents, raised in Africa and educated in America, where he marries and raises a family.  When his wife dies, he brings his two children (Jaime McEnnan and Gennie James) to Kenya, where he opens a jungle clinic, aided by his Maasai friend (Joseph Mydell) and a woman doctor from an aristocratic British family (Jenifer Landor).  Shot on location in Kenya. . .  Note that the entry in the Goldberg book doesn't make any mention of a book from which the show (the unsold pilot) was derived, if any. Looking at other entries, he usually seems to do so when appropriate, at least for well-known sources, but I did spot at least one other case where they missed a book I know, and one or two in which they get such a citation wrong in some way, so that's not Goldberg's chief focus.  Maybe there's an ultimate book behind this one and maybe not, but it looks like the odds are against it.  Blanche Hanalis wrote a lot of screenplays, some adapted from books and some apparently original stories.  I can'\''t find her credited in WorldCat with a book under either the MY AFRICA or TWO WORLDS title, nor do I find a book called TWO WORLDS that seems to match the premise described.  Hope this helps a bit, at least.

Try Patrick Collum....
Oxford Myths and Legends Series? 1950s.  Oxford University Press published a series of books like this in the '50's:  here's one example: Picard, Barbara Leonie FRENCH LEGENDS, TALES & FAIRY STORIES
1st edition 1955, Oxford University Press, in the Myths & Legends series. 5th volume in the series. 216 pages. Striking full page colour and black & white illustrations by Joan Kiddell-Monroe. Stone coloured cloth. Spine gilt, slightly bumped at tail.  (Is "stone coloured cloth" close enough?)
I think you may be thinking of The Young Folks' Shelf of Books put out by P. F. Collier and Sons. The set may consist of 10 volumes(?). Each dealing with a different theme. Vol 3- Myths and Legends, vol 4-Hero Tales, vol 5- Stories That Never Grow Old.etc. May be worth a look!
Ingri D'aulaire, Edgar D'aulaire, D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths.  I remember reading a grey book of greek myths with the drawings on the front being sort of black lineart. I found it but the cover is different. The one I read was a big hardcover.
There seems to be another one on Norse myths so maybe its the series you're looking for? 

#M122--Make-believe bear and a boy:  A story about a boy bringing a bear home is Benny and the Bear, by Barbee Oliver Carleton, but there is no mother in that and the bear is quite real!  Stories about a boy, his mother, and an imaginary bear are the Blackboard Bear series.
Joan Walsh Anglund, Cowboy and His Friend. This the story of a little boy and his imaginary bear friend.
Knoche, Norma and Daly, Eileen, A Story About Me. (1966)  I am sure that the book you are looking for is A Story About Me, by Norma Knoche and Eileen Daly.  This is a Whitman Big Tell-a-Tale book, and the plot is just as you described: a little boy finds a bear in the woods and brings him home, only the boy's  mother is unable to see the bear. This was a childhood favorite of mine also, and I enjoy reading it to my children.
A Story About Me. The book is definitely A Story Bout Me.  It is my all-time favorite children's book and I still have my original copy.  I especially enjoyed the part where Mom gives them milk and cookies and Me Bear is so shy that he doesn'\''t wave to her until he is at the gate at the end of the walk.  I remember reading this to myself, my younger sister, my two girls and now I look forward to reading it to my Grandchildren someday.  Although I think I could recite it from memory, I am glad I have the book.  The illustrations are priceles.

Jerry West, Happy  Hollisters, 1960s??  Could the series be the Happy Hollisters by Jerry West? There are so many titles in that collection-- HH and the Sea Gull Beach. HH and the Sea Turtle Mystery, HH and the Old Clipper Ship are a few.  Or maybe the Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope,(I think)! BT at the Seashore,BT at Lakeport, BT at Lighthouse Point, and others. Honey Bunch is another old series. I don't know much of this set.
M138 mystery series: this sounds a bit like Captain Ghost (Solved List) but that wasn't a series.
Could this be The Maida Books by Inez Haynes Irwin from the 1940's? The poster gave no indication when these books were read! There is Maida's Little Lighthouse, Maida's Little Island, Maida's Little Houseboat, etc. In M's Houseboat the boat breaks from its dock during a sudden fierce storm and the boat is adrift. It finally runs aground on the island and the children are stranded there for several days. They stay in an old stone house called Stonehenge and they discover a stray dog marooned on the island as well. Many of the stories in this series take place on the large property owned by Maida's father: the Big House where he lives, the Girls House and the Boy's House where the children live--they are on the coast of Massachusetts. There is a dock with the houseboat and the island offshore.The endsheets are illustrated to depict the Westabrook property and the story settings. As a kid I always loved maps and diagrams where I could track the actions as they unfolded!
Could this be the Hilda Boden books about the Marlows? Several titles: Marlows at Castle Cliff, Marlows at the Regatta, Marlows at Newgate, The Two Emeralds. She has other stories but I don't know if the Marlow children are in them- House by the Sea, Treasure Trove, Mystery of the Island Keep. I am not familiar with these books but I came upon them recently- since they were a series I thought I'd give it a shot!
John and Nancy Rambeau, The Mystery of Morgan Castle, 1962.  This is the first book in the series of dark purple books called the morgan bay mysteries.  They are about children who live in morgan bay along the boardwalk and think the morgan house is haunted.  However in it live an old lady with a cane and she has a dog.  Could be what you are looking for.
John and Nancy Rambeau, The Morgan Bay Mysteries. (1962-65)  This sounds remarkably like the Morgan Bay Mysteries, though you seem to be talking about scenes from several of the books, not just one.  These books were hardcover with illustrations in shades of purple.  The first book, The Mystery of Morgan Castle, involves Gabby, Bill and Vinny Summers who live in the seaside town of Morgan Bay.  There is a vine-covered castle at the end of the boardwalk and old Mrs. Wellington lives right next door with her dog (who runs away).  In another book in the series, The Mystery of the Midnight Visitor, the house is fixed up and is the site of a Garden Club party.

ARGH!  I've read this one too - and loved it.  It was called something like To Find Your Love, or I'll Find My Love - I remember a little snatch of song that Mac sings at the end when they realize they were  - to quote Sleepless in Seattle - MFEO  (Meant for Each Other)!  Maybe by Mary Stolz?  Maybe not?  Now, you've got ME going crazy!!
Joan Dirksen, I'll Find My Love (1957)  I was not the original poster, but when I read this I remembered the book perfectly.  It drove me crazy for months, but I rooted around in my 50+ years of memory to finally remember a title.  I ordered it ILL and it is the one!! I got chills when I read the first page!  Yes, it is very 50's in tone, but it is really well-written. I am so excited, all I can say is:  "And now we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!!!"

This isn't a solution, but rabbit tobacco (lavender) is mentioned in Beatrix Potter's stories.
Sally Patrick Johnson (editor), A Book of Princesses
I sent this stumper in, and I just wanted to note that the solution is NOT the Princesses book edited by Sally Patrick Johnson.  There are lots of wonderful stories in there, but no story about a princess named Paz, (actually, I wonder why it is not).  Also, the story about the moon waxing and waning is not in there.  It could be that the Infanta story wasn't really in the book I'm trying to find - I may be remembering that wrong.  And, the rabbit tobacco detail was in a story about animals (maybe rabbits, maybe not), but I don't think it was a Beatrix Potter story.  Thanks for the ideas though!
George Macdonald , Little Daylight.  Could the 'waxing and waning of the moon' refer to George Macdonald's short story "Little Daylight" about a princess who is cursed by an evil hag at her christening to 'wax and wane with the moon"? I read this as a child in an anthology  I thought it was the 'Princesses' book that I suggested earlier, but could be wrong.
This is the original poster again.  Nope, it's not The Princesses.  In my edition of The Princesses (copyright 1962) edited by Sally Patrick Johnson, the George Macdonald story is called The Light Princess.  Her evil aunt curses her to have no gravity (both lack of physical weight and emotional seriousness).  Her Prince must allow himself to be drowned to fill up a sinking lake that the Princess loves to swim in.  So, that is not it - nothing to do with the moon
waxing and waning.  Can you remember which anthology it was where you might have read a different version of the story?  And really, I'm hoping that the "princess named Paz" clue might ring a bell with someone.  As I remember it, the very first line of the story gave her name and explained that Paz meant peace.  But I have had no success in searching for it.  Does anyone out there remember a princess named Paz?
Rina Singh, Moon tales : myths of the moon from around the world,  1999.  This is just a possibility, since I don't actually have the book to check the details, but I thought it was worth mentioning.  It may be too recent.  When did you read it?  The contents list includes stories about rabbits, the moon, and a princess  no Oscar Wilde, though.  "The greedy man (Chinese) -- The thieves of Chelm (Jewish) -- Anansi (West African) -- Hina (Polynesian) -- The daughter of the moon and the son of the sun (Siberian) -- The rabbit and the moon man (Canadian) -- The sun, wind and the moon (Indian) -- The buried moon (English) -- The moon princess (Japanese) -- Why the moon waxes and wanes (Australian)"
No, it is not Moon Tales by Rina Singh.  Great suggestion, though!  I checked through it thoroughly. I also checked similar books of stories about the moon like Sun, Moon and Stars by Mary Huffman and Jane Ray, and The Buried Moon and Other Stories by Molly Bang.  No luck.  I would have read this collection of stories in the late 1960's to early 1970's.  But I think even books with recent copyrights might have old stories that ring a bell.  But none of these did.
THE BEDSIDE BOOK OF FAMOUS BRITISH STORIES maybe?  1956
Elsie Spicer Eells, Tales of enchantment from Spain, 1950, copyright.  Paz is Spanish for peace, so perhaps at least the princess story was a Spanish folktale. This collection includes: White parrot -- Carnation youth -- Wood cutter's son and the two turtles -- Luck fairies -- Bird which laid diamonds -- Enchanted castle in the sea -- Princess who was dumb -- King who slept -- Prince Fernando -- Lily and the bear -- Sun, moon, and morning star -- Frog and his clothes -- White dove of the city of the Swinging Gate -- Flower of beauty -- Magician palermo.

Not quite, but worth a mention:  Barrett, Judy.  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  Illustrated by Ron Barrett.  Atheneum Books, 1978.
Tom Glazer, On Top of Spaghetti. It sure sounds like the storyline, though I can't vouch for the strange detailed pictures.  Be sure to check out the ones with illustrations by Art Seiden (1966), Tom Garcia (1982), or Jackie Snider (1982) - which would be the ones around in the time period you remember.  Newer versions in print have a different illustrator.
This one may be a long shot. Perhaps it was not a meatball that rolled underground. Perhaps it was a rice dumpling from the book THE FUNNY LITTLE WOMAN retold by Arlene Mosel. A rice dumpling falls through a crack in the old woman's house and leads her underground. It definitely would seem scary to a child because there were statues and monsters down there. ~from a librarian
On Top of Spaghetti sounds like your best bet, since the song is a parody of  "On Top of Old Smokey" and generally starts "On top of spaghetti/All covered with cheese/I lost my poor meatball/When somebody sneezed."  The meatball goes on rolling out the door and I believe it eventually gets mushed or smushed.
I'm voting for The Funny Little Woman because of the hill, the underground city and scariness.  Versions I've seen of On Top of Spaghetti don't have the underground sequence or the frightening factor.

Sounds like a version of Seven Blind Mice, except it's usually an elephant they're describing.  There's a nice modern version of that by Ed Young.
Thanks for the suggestion.  Seven Blind Mice is similar in theme, but it's not the book I'm looking for.
M160 Have you tried consulting A to Zoo?  Most public & school libraries have this reference book that lists picture books categorized by animals. Worth a shot!
Thanks for the advice.  Sadly, I've checked two different directories of children's literature -- but to no avail.  Surely
SOMEONE must remember this book!?! 

M186: Sounds like Walter the Lazy Mouse by Marjorie Flack. See F72. It also reminds me of the movie An American Tail, though I never saw it.
The Grocery Mouse.  The plot involves a young mouse who lives in a grocery store with his large family but is anxious to see the outside world.  His mother warns him of the dangers of the outside.  He is accidently swept outside and travels around searching for food and a place to live. He meets a girl mouse and moves into a tree eventually taking her back to see his family. This is a very cute book-at one point they follow a trail of ants to find food. It was very "vintage" when I received it in the mid-sixties. I have it up in the attic somewhere-if this sounds right, let me know and I will look for it to find the author.
I just found the book.  It is not the one I am looking for.  Thanks.
Could this be Mouse House by Rumer Godden??
Thanks, but it's not the Mouse House either.
Elsa Jane Werner, Patrick the Fuzziest Bunny, 1946.  Could this be the book, it is about a rabbit though not a mouse who gets separated from his family when they go on a picnic, he gets lost and goes through many adventures.  It is a fuzzy wuzzy book?  I had it as a child in the early 50's
Thank you very much, but Patrick The Fuzziest Bunny is not the book I am searching for.  There were no fuzzies and I am sure it was a mouse that was lost.
I seem to remember a series of 2in1 books from 1954 that included My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, unfortunately the reverse side of that is not the mouse book I am struggling to remember. There is one about a mouse (I believe he is dressed russian style) and he has to go out into the snow searching for something? Which made me think of the description for M186. My memory of this series gets alittle vague, perhaps someone else remembers this series better?
I have THE DANDELION LIBRARY,which includes My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, as well as the Russian tale about Trubloff-the Mouse Who Wanted to Play the Balalaika.  The watercolor illustrations of Trubloff traveling with a band of musicians show him cross-country skiing against vast wintery sunsets and starry night skies.There are many wonderfully moving stories and pictures in this collection, including The Three Little Horses, and Johnny Crow's Garden.

Russell & Lillian Hoban, Bedtime for Frances.  Long shot, but could be Bedtime for Frances.  The illustrations are in shades of grey (and green in *some* editions).  While the story does not center entirely around things looking scary in the dark, there are parts about this, and then Frances will turn on her light and see what they really are.
Hoellwarth, Cathryn, The Underbed, '90's.  Can't remember if this book shows the entire bedroom.
Mercer Mayer, Nightmare in my Closet.  Speaking of Mercer Mayer, could the scary 'thing' have been in his closet instead of under the bed [alligator]
The book is definitely from the 70s--when I was a child.  And I do remember that the format was dark room monster, light room objects, dark room monster, light room objects, etc.  I'm excited to see that people have read and considered my entry--and am holding out hope that it will be solved. Thanks.
#M189--Monsters are really ordinary objects:  Could this be by Judith Viorst?
The Flat Man or The Ankle Grabber.  These are both very short books about the fun of scaring yourself, but not to get to upset because "I know that sound isn't really the flat man scratching at my window to get in, it is just the branches from the tree outside, but I like to pretend."
Ellen Raskin, Spectacles, '70s.  Not monsters in a room, but a child who doesn't like to wear her glasses, but you see, in grey, what she thinks she sees and then, in full color, what it is that the things really are. A favorite of mine!
are you absolutely positive this was a book? because I remember the same thing, except it was on television-- one of those educational kids shows. it was presented like a book-- there was no motion, every camera shot was of a drawing, like the page of a book. the child was afraid of the dark, and made drawings of what all the "monsters" really were and put them on her bedside table so that she could look at the drawings at night.
Munro Leaf, Boo - Who Used to Be Scared Of The Dark. (1948)  In this story illustrated by Frances Hunter, Boo is taught by his cat Alexander to overcome his fear of the dark and other things.  When Boo is looking at things in the dark the pictures are black and gray  when he turns on his flashlight they are colored.  As a child I thought it was a wonderful book perhaps because Boo looked like my little brother!
Ann Hellie, Once I had a Monster,1969.
Ellen Raskin, Spectacles. I think that the poster that suggested Spectacles is on to something as I just recently found that book for my daughter and read it again. There is a gray picture tha looks like a dragon, but when she puts her glassses  on, she can see it is something else entirely and the picture switches to color. Just try to find the book at the library to see if it is what you remember.

Carolyn Ruth Eger, Rimskittle's Book(1926)
It was on your stumpers archives page, under MN (for monkey, I assume). How I came across it, by the way, was by googling the "little yellow monkey" etc. phrase, hoping to find the complete poem. It was the unique hit, unfortunately. But I can't imagine how the customer saw it in a 4-5" book in the fifties--the original was a small folio. Maybe what he saw was an anthology of some sort? I am awestruck by the number of mysteries you solve, by the way; and your store looks wonderful. 

These are juvenile novels about the Russo-Finnish War published before 1970.  Do any of them sound right?  Sorry for all the choices, but I couldn't find summaries for most of them. Dave Dawson on the Russian Front, by Robert Sidney Bowen, 1943. Comrades in the Snow, by Julian David [a.k.a. David Loring MacKaye and Julia Josephine Gunther MacKaye] 1941. Ski Patrol, by Roy J. Snell, 1940.  I'll Know My Love, by Pearl Bucklen Bentel, 1955.  Summary:  A story about the courage of the Finns when Russia gobbled up a thick slice of Finland.  It is based on the experiences of a young Finnish drama student at the Playhouse in Pittsburgh whom Mrs. Bentel came to know.
Floyd Miller, Wild Children of the Urals , 1965.  Could this be the same book as O26.  It sounds very similar.

#M199--Mountains/Alps (Swiss?) Boy rescues friend from mystic force:  There is a very similar situation in the short story The Dead Valley, by Ralph Adams Cram.  There are two boys who are friends, but nothing about holding hands, and you would definitely remember the part about the dog.  If you don't remember any dog, this is not your story.
Mollie Hunter, The Haunted Mountain, 1972.  This wasn't about two boys, but about a boy and his father.  It also wasn't set in the Alps.  The boy's father had been missing and the boy up the mountain to save him from a magical force.

#M200--Mysery of the Topaz Necklace:  Hmmm, doesn't seem to be this one: Secret of the Tiger's Eye, by Phyllis A. Whitney.   All right, so tigers don't live in Africa.  How can you explain Benita Dustin's terrifying experience with one in the garden of her aunt's house in Cape Town? Of course, this daughter of a journalist has considerable imagination,
the kind you'd expect of a girl who likes to read and aspires to authorship herself.  It's not the kind of imagination Joel Monroe appreciates.  He's a fact-loving soul, the last boy on earth probably to believe in ghosts or in disappearing faces at the window, or to feel there's anything odd in a man's thumb being blue.  He's the last boy, certainly, whom Benita wants as companion on the trip she and her younger brother have made with their father, who is writing a book about South Africa.  Oh, once in a while Benita and the guest, son of Mr. Dustin's editor back in New York, do see eye to eye -- on the ugly
injustice of apartheid, for instance.  But when it comes to Aunt Persis' exciting house with its cave and romantic towers and frightening prowlers, or to the mystery surrounding the death of Aunt Persis' adopted son, why, then, the sparks fly.  Logical Joel scoffs at the "notions " of imaginative Benita.  He scoffs on the other side of his face, so to speak, when her writer's
intuition turns out to be only too true concerning the sinister intentions of Mr. Blue Thumb, otherwise known in questionable quarters as Tom Kettle -- a grinning, greasy-haired, sidling sailor whom sensible Joel wants to befriend! Friendship, though, friendship, trust, and respect are the clues to the really big secret in this book.  Here, against the breath-taking background of a highly dramatic country, is a story full of drama as well as of meaning, with scarcely a slack in the sleuthing thrills young mystery fans love.
Possibilities -- Mystery of the Missing Necklace by Enid Blyton (May Fair Books, 1963), or Mystery of the Carrowell Necklace by Eugenie C Reid, (Young Readers Press, 1967).
Betty Cavanna.  It sounds like the kind of plot she sometimes used, though I can't think of a specific book.
How about Mystery in the Museum by Betty Cavanna? I believe the young girl works in the museum shop and I think the mystery revolves around a very valuable missing bracelet. Might be worth a look!
Hi, I posted a stumper a while back called Mystery of the Topaz Necklace. You guys solved it as Mystery in the Museum by Betty Cavanna. I've read it, and while it was good, it's not the book I'm looking for. Mine takes place in a natural history museum in the 40's or 50's or so and is more of a teenage story, Cavanna's is set in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (I'm from Boston, so I especially enjoyed it) among college kids in the 70's. I think this book has fallen off the face of the earth since I know Topaz Necklace is in the title and there are on hits on that phrase anywhere (I wish I'd stolen it from my library when I was reading it 10 years ago before it got weeded! LOL) but if you get a chance at some point I'd appreciate it if you could stick it back into the unsolved archive--hey, you never know! :) 

Might this be the Trixie Belden series?  As I recall, Trixie solved mysteries along with her brother and her friend and her friend's brother.  There were also other siblings involved I believe, as well as friends.  I *think,* but am not sure, that these were originally published in the 30's or 40's?  And they did always have happy endings, with Trixie (and company) returned safely to her big loving family.
Laura Lee Hope, Bobbsey Twins series.  Perhaps another possibility
Old series?? Curly Tops by Howard R. Garis, (1920-30?)  Penny Nichols by Joan Clark, (1930's), Honey Bunch and Norman by Helen Louise Thorndyke, (1940-50's), Happy Hollisters by Jerry West, (1950-60's)

My first thought was Moon Bear by Frank Asch but that wasn't published till 1978, maybe a little late for your book.  Here are two other possibilities: #1- Bobby Bear's Rocket Ride by Marilyn Olear Helmrath (1968) "Bobby Bear wants to fly like a robin so he gets a ride on a rocket to the moon and other planets in our solar system."  #2- Lorenzo Bear & Company by Jan Wahl (1971) "Lorenzo Bear launches a space program for animals by building a moon rocket."
This is a very long shot, but maybe the reader is remembering Barbapapa's Ark that is on the solved mysteries page.  Barbapapas are blobby creatures (one of them is rather hairy) who take animals into space in a rocket-type vehicle.  It's from the right time period, too.
Wildsmith, Brian, Professor Noah's Spaceship, 1980, copyright. Picture book with Wildsmith's characteristic semi-abstract colorful pictures, maybe too recent.

M213 I think this must be it. I haven't located it yet, but now that I see it is only 24 pages, I'll look again in the morning in the stacks of zoology.  Watts, Barrie.  House mouse.  photos.  Silver Burdett, 1990 [British] 1998  life cycle illustrated with life-size color photos.
M213 No luck finding my copy of Mouse House.  In the search, I ran across 2 other photographic mouse books: Burton The  mouse in the barn, Oxford Scientific Films in a series on Animal habitats, and it shows all kind of mice around the world, so that is not it. Mouse and Company by Lilo Hess is closer: The photos show the life of a deer mouse, including nest  building and baby-raising. "and company " apparently refers to all the other species discussed and depicted.
M213 It might be THE MOUSE BOOK by Helen Piers, published in England in 1966, published by F.Watts in 1968, and by Scholastic in paperback in 1970. It is divided into 3 chapters (and I may not have the chapter headings 100% correct - I'll check my copy) "Mouse Finds a House" "Mouse Finds a Friend" "Mouse Finds Food". If this is the book you're thinking
of, than you may recall that the text goes something like this - Mouse was looking for a house that was not too hot, not too cold, not too dirty, not too wet...etc. And you may recall that Mouse finds a dollhouse to live in, finds a mouse friend, and when they run out of food, a human finds them and puts them in a mouse house with plenty of good things for mice. It is really adorable, and a fun read-aloud. Just be careful that it's by Helen Piers - there's another book by the same title. ~from a librarian
Mouse and Company- story and photographs by Lili Hess. Charles Scribner's Sons (1972) It was a Junior Literary Guild Selection. This might be it!

Check the description of Wishing Penny and Other Fantasy Stories on the Solved Mysteries pages to see if it sounds familiar.
I checked The Wishing Penny and the description of The Sand Castle; it's close but not quite the story I'm looking for...The little girl definitely constructs the mermaid herself and decorates her with objects she finds on the beach (no sand castle involvement).  I don't think the mermaid ever speaks, either.  Queen Anne's Lace (the flower) is one of the things the little girl uses to make her mermaid beautiful.  Thanks!
Eleanor Farjeon, Martin Pippin in the Daisy Field.  I may be totally off base here, but I think this *might* be an Eleanor Farjeon story, possibly 'The Mermaid of Ryle' in the above book.
I haven't been able to find The Mermaid of Ryle, but I managed to read some of Martin Pippin on-line; it doesn't have the same feel as the mermaid story I remember.  The story was fairly contemporary (1960s or 70s).  I know it's out there  somewhere and somebody remembers it...
Ainsworth, Ruth, The Talking Rock, London, Deutsch 1979.

M218 The description made me think of MILLICENT THE MONSTER by Mary lystad, illustrated by Victoria Chess, 1968. It is a picture book, the illustrations are distinctive, and are set in Victorian? time period. Millicent is friends with her next door neighbor (I'm pretty sure that they do handstands together) but she's sick of being a good girl. She decides to become a monster and terrorizes everyone with mean faces, words and behavior. But when her best friend can't stand her, she decides to stop being a monster. However, there's no magic involved. If this doesn't sound right, then I did come across a listing for THE MAGIC OF MILLICENT MUSGRAVE by Brinton Turkle, 1967. The summaries say that Millicent wants a white rabbit but gets tricked by a magician and gets a doll (named Melinda Melee) instead. Millicent and her father travel the world to track down the magician. So, the description doesn't really match, but just in case...  ~from a librarian
Sachs, Marilyn, Dorrie's Book.  Checked my copy of Millicent the Monster, and the previous person posting on this was
right--Millicent does do handstands in the book. If it's _not_ Millicent the Monster that the requester is thinking of, it might be Dorrie's Book.  It is a quirky novel written in diary format, and I could swear that Dorrie moves in next to a family with a bizarre daughter named Millicent.  Unofrtunately, I don't have a copy in which to check it, and any of the bib records that I've looked at don't mention the neighbor.
M218 Darn! I thought I had found it, but it is NOT The magic of Millicent Musgrave by Brinton Turkle.

Astrid Lindgren, Emil series
I do not think it is the Emil books by Lindgren, as Emil only has a little sister and not an older one who could be dating a boy.  Thank you for the suggestion though.
Maybe Bill Bergson stories by Lindgren!?
Edith Unnerstad, The Urchin.  (Translated from Swedish 'Pysen'.) I don't remember whether there was such a spying episode, but the hero was a mischievous small Scandinavian boy, and did have teenage sisters.
Gunilla Norris, A Time for Watching, 1969. Could this be it?  It takes place in Sweden.  Joachim's best friend is gone for the summer, and Joachim gets into a lot of mischief and trouble.  He is fascinated by a neighbor who doesn't like children, and is a watch and clock repairer.  Near the end, there is a Midsummer celebration, with a dance around a May Day-type pole.  Joachim did have an older sister who went on a date.  I hope this is it - it was one of my favorites as a child.  Good luck!

Illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, Dean's A Book of Fairytales, 1977.  The 1977 edition of this book has a greyish blue cover.

Any relation to T149?  (Still unsolved).
Definitely not related to T149, but I confess that one intrigued me when I was browsing the stumpers and I tried to find it online.  I have a copy of Futility the Tapir.  It is a very simple ink drawing picture book with only a few lines.  Cute art but not the answer to my M223 nor T149.  I'll not give up hope!  thanks....
There are also tapirs in South America.  I vaguely recall there being something about crops and irrigation or watering of the crops, too.  Also a small building (house?) made of natural materials.  Maybe I have the setting wrong - perhaps it is not Malaysia after all?  This one is driving me nuts because I have so little to go on.  But this story is completely responsible for me even knowing what tapirs are in the first place.  Today I try to help support tapir preservation whenever I can.  There are four species left, all endangered.
On M223, I wonder if maybe it was a story in my childcraft books.  I have a set now, 1966 edition, and it is not in that, but neither is Little Black Sambo, and I seem to remember LBS being in my set as a child in the 1960s.  Our old family set was gray binding/different color stripes for each volume, but may have been a couple of years older than 1966.   Maybe your readers can look in their childcrafts and check for a story with a tapir illustration?  If Little Black Sambo was removed, maybe the editors removed and added other stories as well...?  Thanks!

M225: This isn't quite a match, but it reminds me of the short spy story by The Three Investigators author Robert Arthur - I believe it's called The Midnight Visitor. I read it in the middle-school textbook Impressions from the 1970s. It takes place in a hotel in France and the man who goes onto the balcony is a Russian spy. However, there is no blizzard - just a very well set-up ending. I won't spoil it.
Additional note: The Midnight Visitor is from Arthur's 1964 book: Mystery & More Mystery.
king, stephen, collection of short stories.  this is one of the stories from skeleton crew or another of king's anthologies.
I couldn't help but think of Dean Koontz' The Face of Fear when I read this stumper.  It is no short story, nor for children, but the stumper poster may enjoy reading it, even if it's not what is being searched for.  There is a tall building, a killer, a blizzard, and a chase.  I won't spoil the ending of this one either!
Stephen King, Night Shift (collection of short stories).  Thjs should be easy to find at any library or used book store. I don't know which story it is but I am sure it's one in this collection. Neither the story nor the collection is for children.
I checked out the story "The Ledge" in Stephen King's NIGHT SHIFT, and that is definitely NOT the story. In the Stephen King story, There's a bet involved and the man is aware that his goal is to walk around the ledge even before he goes out there. The story I read is definitely about a man unexpectedly getting locked out of his apt. in a murder attempt, simply to be left out there on his balcony to die in freezing temps, and his need to survive the ordeal. The King story is about a man agreeing ahead of time to walk around the high ledge to win a bet. Any other ideas would be appreciated, I haven't checked out any of the other suggestions yet. Thanks!
William Irish (Cornell Woolrich), Maybe in Phantom Lady collection.  Very definitely a Cornell Woolrich story written under the name William Irish. It may be in the Phantom Lady collection which was a book club selection. William Irish is a key figure in the noir genre. Really fun stuff, scary and chilling. Most of his settings are 30-50s Manhattan. He also wrote the short story "Rear Window" upon which the Hitchcock movie is based.
william irish a.k.a. cornell woolrich, story in AFTER-DINNER STORY collection, 1944.  I don't recall the story, but I agree that it sounds like it could be Woolrich.  One respondent thought it was in PHANTOM LADY "omnibus," and the only Woolrich omnibus to include his novel PHANTOM LADY is also one that includes his novel DEADLINE AT DAWN and the contents of one of his story collections, AFTER DINNER STORY.  So, if the story in question is in said omnibus, it should also be in any edition of that story collection--the original, the omnibus, and/or the pb reprint of the original collection, which was retitled SIX TIMES DEATH.  Unfortunately I don't have any of those handy to check contents right now.
Thanks so much! I have done some research now on Cornell Woolrich, and think the story I read may well be his. Another story of his was described as being about a man who knows that a bomb is going to go off in an apartment building at a certain time  however, he is trapped in the basement of the building and can't warn anyone... I now remember reading this story as well, around the same time I read the one described in my stumper, so I really think that it's cornell woolrich, I just need to find the collection of stories and check it out, I understand that much of his work is now out-of-print. Thanks again.
My high-school lit book had something close to what you're talking about: there wasn't any killer, the man crawled out onto the ledge to retreive some vital business paper that had blown outside and accidentally slams the window shut. His wife had gone off for the evening and he wasn't sure he could wait for her to get home. Ending would be as you remember.
Re:  M225.  The high school lit book mentioned by one of the responders is probably "Adventures in Appreciation," Harcourt, Brace and World.  The short story about the man on a ledge is almost certainly Jack Finney's "An Untitled Story."  I first read it freshman year in high school.  Heart-poundingly suspenseful; I recommend it!
I just remembered something else about M225.  The way the hero got off the apartment building roof -- was it by disconnecting everyone's TV antenna so someone would come up and investigate?  If so, try searching issues of "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine" from the 1980's.  I'm sure I read a story like that, and that's most likely where.

M227 have you tried this spelling: Merrimac
Nursery Rhyme?, Mary Mack.  Found a nursery rhyme, nothing to do with a train, though:   Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack /
All dressed in black, black, black / With silver buttons, buttons, buttons / All down her back, back, back / She asked her mother, mother, mother / For fifty cents, cents, cents / To see the elephant, elephant, elephant / Jump over the fence, fence, fence / He jumped so high, high, high / He reached the sky, sky, sky / And he never came back, back, back / ‘Till the end of July, ‘ly, ‘ly.
Marian Potter, The Little Red Caboose, 1953.  I'm not certain about this, but it's a possibility.  (It's part of the Little
Golden Book series.)

William Baring-Gould, The Annotated Mother Goose.  This seems like a strong possibility  some of the illustrators included in this collection are Parrish, Caldecott, Rackham and Greenaway.

Well, this isn't a perfect fit, since Peter Pauper Press books are pretty small, but it sounds like Turkish Fairy Tales. That one story sounds like "The Fish-Peri." When I searched in abebooks under TFT, I found at least four different translations of such fairy tales, so maybe one of them would fit!
Wow--this description sounds like a bunch of fairy tales got in a train wreck!  At any rate, the fish (usually a seal) transforming into a woman is normally known as a "selkie"  in these tales, burning the selkie skin is usually intended to keep the woman trapped in her human form.

Ivo Duka, Secret of the Two Feathers.  I only vaguely remember this but it's possibly The Secret of the Two Feathers, although I think it was published in 1954.
Secret of the Two Feathers.  I remember the first chapter from my grade-school reader, sometime before 1973; the feathers were black with white symbols on them. The feathers were symbols of rival pirates who died in a duel; anybody who found both could make wishes.

A long shot, but Munro Leaf did etiquette books -- Manners Can Be Fun, How To Behave and Why -- with very simple line drawings (almost stick figures) and minimal text.  They were published in the 1940s and 1950s and were still in libraries in the 1960s.  How to Behave has recently been reissued if the person who posted the request wants to see Leaf's drawing style.
Sesyle Joslin, What Do You Say, Dear? OR What Do You Do, Dear?  1960s.  Could one of these classic children's books on manners be what's meant?  Without a dust jacket, one of them could easily match the description, right down to to the illustration of the "little long-haired in dress sitting down."
Marjabelle Young Stewart, White Gloves and Party Manners. The description reminds me of this book, including the illustrations. Good luck!

Anything else to add on this memory?  There are two books featuring Chinese dolls by Eleanor Frances Lattimore called Little Pear (1931) and Peachblossom (1943) ...
Rumer Godden, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  and the little boy doll called Little Plum, in the sequel?  Just a thought.
Rumer Godden, Little Plum.  This book includes dolls called Little Plum and Little Peach (not Mrs.)
Rumer Godden, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  England is the last place Nona Fells wants to be. No one asked her if she wanted to leave sunny India to live in a chilly English village with her aunt's family -- and her cousin, Belinda, just hates her! But when two dainty Japanese dolls arrive at Nona's doorstep, everything begins to change. Like Nona, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are lonely and homesick, so Nona decides to build them their own traditional Japanese house. Over time, not only does Nona create a home for the dolls, but one for herself as well.
There is also a sequel, Little Plum.
M243 Godden, Rumer.  Miss Happiness and Miss Flower.  illus by Jean Primrose.  Viking, 1961.  Japanese dolls, last pages of book are dollhouse plans

I wonder if M248 & C267 refer to the same book?

Florence Parry Heide, Roxanne Heide Pierce, Sylvia Worth Van Clief, The Spotlight Club Series:  The Mystery at Keyhole Carnival as well as several others, 1977.  I only read one of this series, The Mystery of the Whispering Voice, by F. P. Heide and Van Clief, published in 1983.  There are several titles, and the ones published in the 1970s were by Heide and Heide Pierce.  There are about 3 kids who form the club, and even though they are such a small group, they are very formal about club procedure, including, I believe, several rules they recall from prior adventures. Other titles all follow "The Mystery of the" formula, and are The Mystery of the Forgotten Island (1983), Midnight Message (1977), Bewitched Bookmobile (1975), and others.
E. W. Hildick, The McGurk Mysteriesseries

Wells, Rosemary, Through the Hidden Door. NY, Dial Books 1987.  "Two boys at a boarding school find and explore a cave that contains some inexplicable artifacts - dollhouse-sized remains of a large city.  Are they what's left of a giant hoax or could they be the remnants of a miniature race of people? Suspense builds as they excavate the cave in secret and try to solve the mystery of the artifacts." "Barney's life is a mess. Everyone thinks he's a snitch. His former friends want to kill him. Even the headmaster of his school wants him gone. No one but secretive little Snowy Cobb will speak to him. But after Snowy and Barney discover the hidden cave deep below the earth, the promise of ancient treasures wipe away the threats from above. And when they uncover strange artifacts untouched for centuries, a web of unknowable danger begins to unravel-and Snowy and Barney may not survive."

Shot in the dark, but could this person be thinking of the books by Mary Norton that were later made into the Disney movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"? The books were THE MAGIC BED-KNOB and BONFIRES AND BROOMSTICKS and were also combined into BED-KNOB AND BROOMSTICK. However, the witch is not related to them.~from a librarian

Pease, Howard, The Secret Cargo, illustrated by Paul Forster.  NY Dial 1931.  Could be this one, from the title. Subtitle: the Story of Larry Mathews and His Dog Sambo, Forecastle Mates on the Tramp Steamer "creole trader", New Orleans To the South Seas. {Blurb} A padlocked chest on a ship in the South Seas! "Larry Mathews and his dog Sambo stow away and ship off to Tahiti on the freighter Creole Trader. The tramp steamer carries a mysterious padlocked chest that gives rise to Larry's curiosity."
Thanks for that solution, but it isn't the right one. I don't remember any tramp steamers. I'll pursue the Dolphin Readers for the other one though - thanks!
Jean Bothwell, The Mystery Cargo

Sheridan Cain, Good Night, Little Hare. Baby's First Book Club, 1998. "Mother Hare watches as Little Hare settles down to sleep. For his blanket he has the sky, and for his bed he has the soft grass. But Mole warns Mother Hare that Farmer Brown will cut the grass at dawn, so she must find another bed for her baby.  As she searches for a safe place, she is warned by her friends of the countryside's many dangers.  Will she ever find a safe bed for Little Hare?"

John F. Carson, The Boys Who Vanished
Williams, Jay & Raymond Abrashkin, Danny Dunn and the Smallifying Machine, 1969.  The timing is about right for this to be a good candidate, though it's been a long time since I've actually read the book.  The "miniaturized people" plot has been done fairly often (an even more serious treatment, though with few insects that I recall, would be that done by Jane Louise Curry in the series of which MINDY'S MYSTERIOUS MINIATURE is a part).
Lucy Maria Boston, The castle of Yew,1965.

Just a guess-- Origin of Michigan City and Town Names, compiled by Frances Wood, 1952. "Scrapbooks consist of newspaper clippings, postmarked envelopes addressed to Frances Wood of Grand Rapids, Michigan, photographs of local postal buildings, and postcards of various cities, towns, bridges, and wildlife in Michigan."  (Also, Michigan Place Names, Frances Wood, 1954.)

Disney, Dumbo.  The elephant with the giant ears who flies is certainly Dumbo.  The Disney movie was released in 1941, and there have been countless Disney book versions of the story ever since.  It does indeed take place at the circus, and there is chaos when a stunt involving a burning tower that the clowns (who are dressed as firemen) are performing goes wrong and Dumbo has to save the day, so I wonder if this is not the only story you are thinking of.  Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of any of the versions to look at, so I cannot say if one of the characters eats peas with a knife.
Maud and Miska Petersham, The Circus Baby.  I know this is a long shot...it's a picture book about a mother elephant in the circus who wants her baby elephant to sit up on a chair and eat like her favourite clown family. There are several mentions of the mother's big floppy ears. The elephants go into the clowns tent, mother elephant tries to get baby to eat a bowl of beans with a spoon, and they end up destroying the place.  You might be remembering a drawing of the clown family eating...just maybe the father clown might be your fireman?
I'm around the same age and can tell you the rhyme. "I eat my peas with honey./ I've done it all my life./It makes the peas taste funny,/But it keeps them on the knife."  I think (maybe) it was in one of those children's hardcover digests that came every other month. I'll look at the one's I still have and see if I can trace it further. Anyway, maybe you can trace it with the whole rhyme.
I remember the poem too.  I had it in a book of rhymes and/or stories for kids.  I can'\t remember the name though.  I think it was hardbound, maybe an inch thick and had a pink cover.  It also had the Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear rhyme, and another that started with "Peanut sitting on a railroad track" and ended with "Toot toot peanut butter." Hope this helps!
Golden Press, Golden Funny Book, early 1950's, approximate.  My brother and I loved this book as children; several of the poems in it are by Edward Lear, including the one about eating peas with honey.  There are also several TERRIBLY CORNY jokes which we used to think were hilarious!!  Your other book is most likely a Golden Book also; in Disney's DUMBO there is a frantic scene where baby Dumbo is dressed as a baby clown and is to be rescued by clowns dressed as firemen who do all sorts of outlandish things, e.g. spray gasoline on the flames instead of water.  Later on the baby elephant tries to fly, trips over his ears, and upsets the pyramid of bigger elephants.  I think these must be the 2 books you are looking for.  I actually own 2 copies of the Golden Funny Book if you are interested.  DUMBO should not be that hard to find.  Good luck.
Maud and Miska Petersham, The Rooster Crows : A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles, 1945. This book has the poem about eating peas and honey on a knife, as well as Miss Mary Mack, with a picture of an elephant jumping. It sounds like the book you remember. I hope this helped!

Marguerite Vance, Song for a Lute, 1958.  This book has a similar plot -- the young noblewoman who befriends the two princes in the Tower.
Shirley Nagel
Shirley Nagel, Escape from the Tower, 1978.  A description I found of this one says it is fiction about a mistreated servant girl to the head jailer of the Tower of London, and how she became involved in a daring escape plan.  But I could not find anything that said who she helps escape, so I have no idea if this is about the little princes or not.  It may have been retitled "Escape from the Tower of London" in a later edition.
Margaret Campbell Barnes, The Tudor Rose, 1953. Margaret Campbell Barnes'The Tudor Rose is about Elizabeth of York, who was the sister of the two "Princes in the Tower," Edward V and Richard Duke of York.
"The Tudor Rose" by Barnes is unfortunately not the correct book. I was able to check it out from the library to confirm that. The book I remember was more of a YA book. Thank you!

Nathaniel and Betty Jo Charnley, Martha Ann and the Mother Store, 1973.  Martha Ann thinks her mother is too bossy, so she exchanges her at the Mother Store.  Illustrated by Jerome Snyder.
Nancy Burns Brelis, The Mommy Market,  1970.  This book did have moms set up in booths.  The kids try several different moms before realizing theirs was the best for them.
For some reason, I remember the kids singing "ta-ra-ra boom de-ay" in this.
I believe The Mommy Market was the Americanized title.  Possibly published in the UK as The Mummy Market.
Now there are three great possibilities...  we need the original stumper requester to confirm which one she remembers!
Nancy Brelsis, The Mummy Market,1966.  I have seen the movie"Trading Moms" based on the book The Mummy Market by Nancy Brelsis.  It is about three children (a girl and two boys) who talk to their friend, who is an old lady, about how they think their mom is too strict and they wish they had a new mom and she tells them about this old place she remembers called the mommy market. The kids go to find it and they go through an ally to get to it. When they get there, moms of every kind are all over the place like at little stations (cooking moms, singing moms ect.) and the children get three coins and find out they have three chances to get the mom that they want. They start out getting a mom that loves nature and camping, then a snappy french mom, and then a circus performer. They end up not liking any of them and want their own mom back but they have used up their three coins so they try several plans of get her back, but none of them work. They end up getting her back in the end. I researched the book and it is out of print.  I hope some of this helps.
The Mummy Market.  I only recall the English title, the American one is either the Mommy or Mother Market. The kids actually have a caretaker they can't stand, who they are able to trade in for a series of mothers, Mimsy, who's chirpy and foolish, Mom, an outdoors enthusiast, and a child psychologist with a series of books. In the end they seem to get their real mother back (tho they don't recall her leaving), and wonder if all the others were a dream.

Sorry I can't find the title yet, but my children and I recall reading this within the last year or so. More plot details -- the man makes some kind of deal with the devil that he can go three ? places before the devil takes him.  He tries to go to places where the devil has no influence.  One is Rome, but the devil tricks him and sends him to the Rome Tavern or Pub.  At last he goes to the moon, where the devil can' t interfere with him because he has no jurisdiction in the heavens.  We can't remember the name of the book, but it is probably filed under folklore.  I can tell you that the Richmond, CA public library owns it, so maybe you could get lucky searching their online catalog.

Tom Feelings, Panther's Moon, 1969.  Perhaps? "Bismu, a Himalayan boy, loses his dog to a man-eating panther, is hunted himself, and sees his home and sister threatened by the animal before it is finally killed."
Willard Price.  50s - 60s.  Could this be from the "Adventure" series?  Two brothers, Hal and Roger travel the world capturing wild animals for their father's business.  I remember reading one with a man-eating animal...but I thought it was a lion.  There is a Lion Adventure and a Tiger Adventure though, so both may be worth checking out.
Corbett, Jim, Man Eaters of Kumaon.   Or you could try The man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag also by Corbett
I found a copy of Panther Moon, and that's not the book I'm looking for so please keep those thinking caps on.

Winifred Mantle, The Hiding Place, 1962.  There's not much to go on here, but Winifred Mantle, who is British, came into my mind when reading this stumper.  The Hiding Place is a mystery/adventure story.  However the "hiding place" of the book's title is not exactly a cave, but a rocky enclosure on a lake shore, reachable only by a causeway.  Mantle also wrote a book about the same characters (who are neighbors, not cousins) called Chateau Holiday, which maybe is the castle the poster is thinking of.
ENID BLYTON, THE CASTLE OF ADVENTURE, 1946.  You may be thinking of Enid Blyton's 'adventure' series - they featured 4 children who I think were cousins - Jack, Philip, Lucy-Ann and Dinah - also a pet parrot called (I think) Kiki. All the books are set in the UK and include 'Castle of Adventure' Valley of Adventure' etc.
Blyton, Enid, Famous Five Series, 1942- 1963.  There were 21 books in this series (Five Go to Mystery Moor, etc.).
Enid Blyton, The Castle of Adventure, etc.  It sounds as though it could be Enid Blyton's "Adventure" series - The Island of Adventure, The Castle of Adventure, The River of Adventure.  Another possibility is the same author's Famous Five series, featuring the adventures of four cousins and Timmy the dog. But I don't think any of those has "Castle" in the title.
Enid Blyton, Adventure Series, 1940s.  This sounds like Enid Blyton. It could be the Adventure series. There are four children, two boys and two girls. There are smuggler's caves in the Island of Adventure. And one of the books is called Castle of Adventure.
M306 Blyton, Enid.  The castle of adventure.    no illus  Pan Macmillan c1946 revised 1988
Laura  Lee Hope, Bobbsey Twins Series.  Two sets of twins, one set older, one set younger, both consisting of one boy and one girl each(not identical.) All four come from the same family and have the last name Bobbsey. Might be cousins but I always thought their parents just had twins twice. Many books of mystries and adventures, dont recall anything more.
It certainly sounds like the Enid Blyton "Adventure" series.  Was there a parrot named Kiki? If so, it is certainly these.

Cresswell, Helen, The secret world of Polly Flint, 1983.  Polly has to go and stay with her aunt Emily after her father is injured in an accident. On May Day she sees children appear first as shadows and mist, becoming more real as they dance around the maypole, and then disappear. A village has vanished and she goes to find it.

Fritz Muhlenweg, Big Tiger and Christian. About two boys, one Chinese and one Europaean, who travel together through the Mongolian desert.
Rita Richie, The Golden Hawks of Ghengis Khan, 1960s. I think this might be the book you are looking for. It'\''s one of my favorites two boys, an Arab and a Mongol, journey across Mongolia to the headquarters of Ghengis Khan, having many adventures along the way the sport of hawking is very much involved as well as the Arab boys search for his identity. I think there is another book with these characters, but I'\''ve never been able to find it.

M313 The seeker might look at this website, especially  near the end of its summary of a British series which has a Marjorie and an Esme.
Lorna Hill, Marjorie series, 1948-1952.  This sounds like the Marjorie books written by Lorna Hill (better known for her ballet books), the charaters include two girls called Marjorie and Esme and horse riding is one of their activities.  For more information see this website.
Lorna Hill, Marjorie & Patience series.  These are still available, there is a series of them.  Some have been reprinted by Girls Gone By.
Lorna Hill, Marjorie and Co.  And a number of other books in the same series  e.g Stolen Holiday, The Secret,  No Medals for Guy. They have long been out-of-print, but some are being or have been published by the small British publishing company, "Girls Gone By". Here is a link to the publishers' website, which gives details of how to get Stolen Holiday, and possible sources for a couple of out-of-print books.
I cannot bring up any title right now, but I read a whole series of mysteries back in the 1960's about a group of children who had a riding club. Set somewhere in Tennessee or Indiana or Virginia- there where "hollers" and creeks. Two characters were a teenage boy and his younger sister. Kids in the club were from different socio/economic families and this occasionally figured in. Stories were told from the points of view of different kids at different times. I will keep trying to call up a name for any of these books.

Mary Lasswell, Wait for the Wagon, 1951.  This is just a guess, but the description sounds a bit like Wait for the Wagon, one of a series of books about three older friends, Miss Tinkham, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Mrs. Feeley, written by Mary Lasswell.  Some of the others were Suds in Your Eye, One on the House, High Time, and Le''s Go for Broke.  In Wait for the Wagon, the ladies and Old Timer were driving from New Jersey to California in an old restored Cadillac.  They stayed in a motor court and got involved with gangsters.  It is also a slim hardback book, a bit smaller all around than most hardbacks. The books are hilarious, so even if this guess isn't correct, the inquirer can console herself/himself with these.

M322 On Google, there are many mentions of a Finnish classic abt a Mr. Boo. Try this one.  I rather doubt it is the one, but it has been translated worldwide.
Yogi Bear, 1950.I know Yogi Bear was a cartoon but could it possibly been a book also?  The only reason I ask is that Yogi Bear'\''s sidekick was Boo-Boo. In one of the yogi bear songs it says: Yogi has a best friend/Boo-boo, boo-boo/Yogi has a best friend/Boo-boo, boo-boo bear/Boo-boo, boo-boo bear, Boo-boo, boo-boo bear/Yogi has a best friend/Boo-boo, boo-boo bear.Could you have been thinking of a comic book?  Because they made comic books also.  Hope this helps.

Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Colors of Space, 1961.  "The story revolves around Bart being co-opted to find the secret of the Lhari warp-drive fueling material by surgically changing his appearance so he could pass as a Lhari and having him ship out as a crew member on a Lhari ship that is home world bound."
Marion Zimmer Bradley, the Colors of Space.  This is defininetly The Colors of Space.  But the original poster is right - the last part is from a different book, and not any MZB book I know of.
C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet, 1965. First in a remarkable trilogy. The hero, Ransom, is kidnapped in order to trade him for wealth from the planet.  Not sure where the black buildings might come in, but there are various inhabitants of the planet, living in differing communities.  No wire or telemetry in this one, so it may be the wrong book or you may be confusing a different book, as you suggest.

Beryl Bainbridge, An Awfully Big Adventure.  I am pretty sure that this is An Awfully Big Adventure. The girl's name is Stella, but there is a character (male) named Meredith. A few years ago this book was made into a movie with Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman. Here is a review:  "This spare little (205 pages) novel doesn't waste a word, yet signifies volumes. The highly honored Ms. Bainbridge, winner of the prestigious Whitbread Prize and short-listed (six times!) for the Booker Prize amply displays what all the fuss is about. She is that good.  The book is hard to categorize. It isn't a coming-of-age, a psychological thriller, a dazzling Peter Pan parable it is all these things and more.  Stella raised in blue-collar, post WWII Liverpool is a troubled and troubling 15-year old who determinedly washed out of school and has been fixed up as a "student" (read gofer) at a provincial repertory company. She has no particular acting ambitions, but is certain she would be very good at it. We get a many-sided view of Stella  as she sees herself and as she is perceived by the people around her. Every scene and every word of dialogue interlocks like a jeweled timepiece. The reader is almost unaware of the ever-increasing momentum until it crashes upon you in a chilling finale. You think Ms. Bainbridge is through with you, but not quite. Just when you think you are utterly and completely emotionally drained, Ms. Bainbridge delivers a final twist, and now you know you are. I was left stunned."  An excellent example of fine prose. Highly recommended.
I think this might be Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery by John G. Brown.  Description:  ..."Years ago, when his daughter Meredith was young, Dr. Thomas Eagen abruptly left his wife and children in an incident that still haunts Meredith well into adulthood. She longs to discover the truth behind her father's disappearance."  No mention of an incestuous relationship, though.  Another possibility that came up when searching just on the name "Meredith" was:  Gatheringsby Marina Rust.  Description:  ..."novel centers around Meredith, a wealthy young woman who is trying to overcome a childhood spent in a dysfunctional family plagued by drug addiction, alcoholism, and insanity. Haunted by the untimely death of her mother, who deserted Meredith and her father, she shuttles between a South Carolina plantation and a Maine vacation home owned by her mother's family."  Again, no incest, but both books have a "Meredith" and a plot about being abandoned by the father.  The only book that I found with a sexual relationship between father and daughter was The Favourite.  I only mention it because the AUTHOR'S name was MEREDITH Daneman.  Description:  ..."A woman whose childhood was marked by the awareness of being her wayward father's favourite must come to grips with her obsessions and incestuous fantasies when the circumstances of his death are revealed."  Could the person asking about this book have possibly confused the author's name with a character's name?
Bainbridge, An Awfully Big Adventure.  oops- didn't say this before, but this book does have the incest issue in it. I think it is accidental- because he abandoned them years before, neither of them realize until too late that they are father and daughter. But I cannot remember for sure. It is possible that one or the other of the characters knew.
James Leo Herlihy, Season of the Witch.  The M329 seeker may be interested in James Leo Herlihy's "Season of the Witch". The story is vaguely similar. Smart-ass hippieish Gloria, 15, lives with vulgar, avaricious, shallow mother. Gloria has never met her real father, a Jewish political science prof, Dr. Glyzwycz. She reverses the syllables to call herself Witch Gliz. Best friend John gets his draft notice and plans to run away, taking Gloria along to look for her dad. They go to NYC, move into a very idealistic communal apartment and Gloria meets her real dad and comes very close to sleeping with him. 60s style naivete is overplayed and a bit caricatured but a fun read nonetheless.

M330 A Google entry shows a sold copy of Our New Friends, 1946-47 by  Gray and Arbuthnot as having a Merry-Go-Round story in it. Cover has  boy and girl w umbrella  in the rain
Lois Maloy, Arabella of the Merry-Go-Round, 1935.
Alison Uttley, Magic In My Pocket, c.1969.  I seem to remember there being a chapter in Alison Uttley's collection Magic in my Pocket which was about a merry-go-round horse that comes to life. Don't remember what he was called, though.

Janet and Ann Grahame Johnstone.  could this be one of the books illustrated by the Grahame Johnstone sisters?  There are many nursery rhyme books by them and they have a very distinctive style.  Rather OTT period costumes and lots of gorgeous little details.
M332 Since there are so many MG books, would it help the solvers if  the searcher gave us a few more unusual titles from the segment she  still owns?

Patty Wolcott, The Marvelous Mud-Washing Machine.  Well, the cover isn't really brown, and there aren't any monsters, but I thought I'd throw this out there because it's an unusual story from the right time, it's very thin, and easy to read (only 10 different words in it!)  The boy in this book is playing, gets muddy, and his mother calls him in to eat.  Rather than go take a bath or wash up, he goes through this large car-wash style contraption that hoses him down and buffs him up.  He comes out shiny and beaming, and his mother praises him endlessly.  The writing is similar to this:  "Beautiful marvelous mud.  Marvelous beautiful mud.  Marvelous beautiful, beautiful marvelous, marvelous beautiful mud!"  Etc.
Robert Munsch, Mud Puddle, 1982.  I'm sure there are MANY books about mud, but here's another one.  Julie Ann keeps getting into the mud, despite her mother's attempts to clean her up.
Robert Munsch, Mud Puddle.  Any chance that this is Munsch's The Mud Puddle?  A little girl just can't seem to stay clean - when ever she goes outside the mud puddle jumps on her and makes her dirty again.  There are a couple of different versions of this one - if the cover doesn't seem familiar, you may be remembering the old illustrations.
Brock Cole, No More Baths, 1980.  Just a possibility.
Judith Vigna, The Little Boy Who Loved Dirt and Almost Became a Superslob,1975.I think this is the one you're looking for.  I remember reading it myself multiple times when I was in about 2nd grade and I loved it! It's about little boy named Jonathan James who doesn't want to take a bath but instead runs away in fantasy to the secret land of the Superslobs (which kind of look like brown mud blobs) where he does't need clothes, does't have to wash his hair or behind his ears. He can throw rotten eggs and write on the walls with greasy pegs, however after too much of this dirty fun, he misses his home, his clean room and the smell of his mother's hair and wants to go home again, even if it means taking a bath.  There is a similar story called Dirt Boy by Eric Jon Slangerup but that wasn't published until 2003 so I'm not sure if that's what you're after here.Good luck!

M340 This is THE MITTEN TREE by Candace Christiansen~from a librarian
Jan Brett, The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale, 1996
Florence&Louis Slobodkin, Too Many Mittens.  Just a possibility- this book has red mittens hanging everywhere!
Candace Christiansen, The Mitten Tree,1997.This is definitely what you are looking for.  An old lady knits mittens for kids at a bus stop, and every time she runs out of yarn, she finds a basket of yarn on her porch.  It's a Scholastic book.
Candace Christiansen, The Mitten Tree,1997.This is definitely The Mitten Tree, illustrated by Elaine Greenstein.  The edition I have is a Scholastic book

Nichoals Stuart Gray, OVer The Hills to Fabylon (maybe).  This one might be Grey's Over the Hills to Fabylon.  Or Mainly in the Moonlight.  The character named Bracken is a shepherd who loves the princess Rosetta of Fabylon.  Gray put a lot of poetry in his books.  Over The Hills to Fabylon is a collection of linked stories about the people who live in the magical city of Fabylon (it can be instantly transported over the mountains at need) & environs, Mainly in the Moonlight is a collection containing one Fabylon-set story, about the princess' lady who has a message to take to Bracken, and runs into trouble.  Original poster, does any of this ring a bell?
I think you may be right about the book being Over the hills to Fabylon (or Mainly in Moonlight).  I don't remember enough to be  sure without seeing the book again.  I've found copies of Mainly in Moonlight on the internet, but copies of Fabylon are really expensive (over $100).  I'm thinking of buying Mainly in Moonlight since it's affordable, and the title does sound really familiar.  Then I can see if it's what I remember. Thanks for your help.  I've been wondering about this book for many years and glad to finally have a possible answer.  Your website is great.

created and illustrated by Roy Doty, story by David R. Preston, Uncle Pockets, 1951.  I haven't seen this book, and can't find an online description, so I'm not sure it's the one you're looking for, but it seems promising!  The title is close, the date is within your limits, and Roy Doty has written and or illustrated numerous children's books.  To find out more about Roy Doty, visit his website.
Roy Doty, Uncle Pockets, 1951, reprint.  Just wanted to add to the previous post. Uncle Pockets, the character in Doty's first book, led the 1948 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and was the subject of a hit record by Danny Kaye. You can listen to it by visiting this site:  http://www.last.fm/music/Sylvia+Fine/_/Uncle+Pockets.  Just click the "Play Sylvia Fine Radio."  You might have to click on the little arrows of the player til you find the right song.  From the lyrics, it sounds like the right book.

William J. Kerr, Zany Zoo, 1955,  might be a possibility.  The subtitle is animal rhymes, and the lines that the reader remembers seems to be that.  The publication date 1955 also fits.
Bridwell, Norman, Zany Zoo, 1963, Scholastic.   Another possibility.  It was also released with the title Crazy Zoo.
Dean Walley, The Zany Zoo, 1972/1973, approximate. The only way to find it is to type hallmark after the title...otherwise it doesnt show up anywhere...amazon has a few for sale too.

I found a story online titled "Seventeen - A Belated Response to Maureen Daly's Sixteen" by Ahmed A. Khan.  But it's c.2005 so if you're looking for an older story, this isn't it.
Charles Brodie, Eighteen. (1949)  This is a Scholastic Magazine short story.  I have it (in reprinted form) in front of me as I type. It was reprinted as a part of a Scholastic short story collection entitled  First Love (copyright 1966.)  I also remember it from an anthology from middle/high school (although the text was an older one even in the mid-70's), so I'm sure it was reprinted any number of times.

PK Roche, Dollhouse Magic, 1980.  Maybe this one?  It has a white cover that looks like a cross section of a dollhouse, and gives instructions for making simple dollhouse furniture and accessories from household odds and ends.  A sponge becomes a sofa and a broken watch a clock. A spool can be a table base and a toothpaste cap a lampshade.  In simply written chapters, lavishly illustrated with photos and easy-to-follow drawings, the author tells how to start making and finding wonderful things to furnish any dollhouse.  They do use bears in the photos.

John Peterson, The Littles Give a Party, 1972.  If they were little people rather than babies, as you remember, this book might be worth a look.  It's about small people who live in houses, unknown to the big people. (Just like The Borrowers, probably the inspiration) They use a tin can as an elevator to ride between the walls of the house in which they live , and Tom falls into a jar of peanut butter left open in the kitchen. For Granny's 80th bithday, she is given a thimble to use as a wastebasket.
Patricia Clapp, King of the Dollhouse.  This could be what you're looking for... I loved this book as a kid and the mention of peanut butter brought it to my mind immediately. A King and his family (which includes several babies) move into a little girl's dollhouse. She feeds the babies peanut butter which they love. I think the Queen rides around on a mouse!  See the solved page for more details.

I don't know the answer, but if the coin is a 50 pence piece, the book presumably is from after February 1971, when decimalized coinage was introduced in the UK.
Dick King-Smith, The Queen's Nose, 1985.  I think this may be the book you're thinking of. The wishes come true when you rub the queen's nose on the 50p coin. The protagonist is called Harmony, and I think she has at least one brother or sister. More recently the book was made into a TV series and I belive that a sequel was written, too.
Edward Eager, Half Magic.  Could Half Magic have been printed in England with the coin a 50 pence piece? (In the US, it seems at first to be a nickel.)  It really does sound like that book--only it's the mother who wishes to be home from a visit, and finds herself halfway home, with no car.  And there are numerous instances of publishers' changing details like that.

Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles.  For context, also recommend Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. Bradbury returned to this fantasy Mars in other stories not included in this volume ("The Exiles," "The Fire Balloons" and "The Other Foot" in The Illustrated Man, "Night Call, Collect" and "The Lost City of Mars" in I Sing the Body Electric, and "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" in A Medicine for Melancholy).  All are a loosely connected series of stories, but together they paint a world.

Jane Carruth, Adventure in the Dark.  Tippu the mouse gets lost in the dark after chasing Bully Shrew, who has taken his hula hoop.  After a frightening night outside, a neighbor rabbit finds Tippu and shows him that scary-looking tree stumps aren't so scary in the daytime.  In the end, Tippu and his father go fishing, and find the hula hoop in the water.  The version I have has a purple cover, and while the mother isn't wearing a patchwork apron on the cover, she is wearing it throughout the book and on the title page.

Miriam Clark Potter, Mrs. Goose series.  The story "Hatbox Cake" is anthologized in Let's Hear a Story - 30 Stories and Poems for Today's Boys and Girls, ed. by Sidonie Matsner Grunberg, c. 1961.  The story if from one of Miriam Clark Potter's "Mrs. Goose" books, but I'm not sure which one.  Titles in the series include "Mrs. Goose of Animal Town" (1939), "Hello Mrs. Goose" (1947), "Here Comes Mrs. Goose" (1953), "Our Friend Mrs. Goose" (1956), "Mrs. Goose's Green Trailer" (1956), "Just Mrs. Goose" (1957), "Queer, Dear Mrs. Goose" (1959), "Goodness, Mrs. Goose!" (1960), "No, No, Mrs. Goose!" (1962), "Goofy Mrs. Goose" (1963), "Mrs. Goose and Three-Ducks" (1964), and "Mrs. Goose and her Funny Friends" (1964). "Hello Mrs. Goose" was reprinted in 2000, and "Just Mrs. Goose" was reprinted in 2004.

You're looking for John Bellairs' mystery series that begins with The House with a Clock in its Walls.

Edward Eager.  I am wondering if this were one of the Edward Eager books.  Unfortunately, none of the titles contains the word "Saturday," and I don't remember anything about a paper bag, either.

Jean Bothwell, The Borrowed Monkey. (1953)  A long shot, but could this be the one you're looking for?  "Dickon had always wanted a pet and was thrilled when he spied a monkey that nobody seemed to want in a shop window. Dickon was allowed to borrow him for a time but when it was time to return him .....well, there is just enough suspense and excitement before the very satisfactory solution arrives." Illustrated by Margaret Ayer'

Parker, Richard, M is for Mischief. (1966)  Three children find a magic oven, with two settings "O" for ordinary and "M" for mischief. They cook eggs whose shells turn them invisible, make sugar cookies that turn the bully into either a goat or a donkey and their mother into a chicken.
Richard Parker, M is for Mischief. (1966)  I remember this one from my childhood!  Three children find an odd stove and cookbook in a summer house behind their new home. The stove has two settings on it: O and M.  The most adventurous child decides to try out a recipe for boiled eggs that will make whoever eats them invisible. An old man appears from nowhere to adjust the stove and explains that O and M mean ordinary and mischief.  The food the stove produces is either ordinary or magical depending on the stove's setting. The kids discover that the boy next door is a bully. They decide to make a "mischief" recipe for the bully, but his mother eats it instead. She turns into a hen, the bully becomes a donkey, and the mysterious old man (who doesn't know that the neighbors have been transformed) decides to make the stove a normal one.  The original hardcover edition had illustrations by Charles Geer.  It was then released in 1968 in a Scholastic paperback edition with illustrations by Carol Wilde.  Out of print, bu not hard to find or terribly expensive.  See the Solved Mysteries "M" page for more information.
The title is actually M for Mischief.

ROBERT WESTALL, The devil on the Road. (1978, approx) I'm pretty sure this is the one you're thinking of. The main character is a student called John Webster - he stays in a barn while travelling around Suffolk on his motorbike and gets involved with time travel - he goes back and forth to 1647 - the story involves Matthew Hopkins, witchfinder general, a woman called Johanna and a cat/kitten named News. Hope this helps.

Willis, Fritz, Me Too. (1945)  Here's a link where you can check out the cover to see if it's the right book.
This is not really a solution, but I can remember owning a record as a young child, which told the story of Me-Too the duckling - it sounds as though it was based on the book that you mention. I think it might have been one of the Little Golden Records, but am not sure. This would have been in the mid-1960s, but the record might have come out much earlier.

C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.This is just a guess, but The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, begins with a group of children falling into a picture frame.  The picture in the frame is that of a ship, and, of course, the children land in the ocean, are rescued by the people on the ship, and so off they go on their adventures.
I submitted M398 (Magic Picture Frame) and someone has suggested that it could be C. S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  However, I am familiar with that book and it isn't the one I'm after.
Jane Langton, The Astonishing Stereoscope. I'm wondering if perhaps rather than a picture frame it's a stereoscope, and the children in question enter the pictures that are put into it?  Eleanor and Edward Hall would be two of the main characters, if this is the right book.

H. Allen Smith, The Age of the Tail, 1955.  This is definitely THE AGE OF THE TAIL by H. Allen Smith.  1955 hc from Little, Brown  there was a pb reprint from Bantam the following year.  No isbn, since the isbn system wasn't operating back then, and the book hasn't been reprinted since the 1950s as far as I can determine.

Are you thinking of Babapapa? Check the link to the website.  Hope this helps

Could this be one of the many Curious George books? It definately sounds like one, and George's owner "the man in the yellow hat" always did look like a fireman to me!

M406: The Sword in the Tree by the prolific Clyde Robert Bulla? A lord's evil brother seizes a castle, and the lord's wife and son flee, but not before the son (Shan Weldon) hides a sword in a hollow tree nearby so he can have proof, later on, that the castle is his. Illustrated by Bruce Bowles and/or Paul Galdone. Possibly from 1956.

Robert Silverberg, Lost Race of Mars.  This is a long shot, since some of your details don't match my memory of the book, but you might want to check out Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg.
This is a wild guess, but could this book be Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg?
M408: Lost Race of Mars by Robert Silverberg? See Solved Mysteries. "1960. Illustrated by Leonard Kessler. Do the Old Martians really exisit? Sally & Jim must find out as their father's life work as a sceintist is at stake. But it's not easy. They are the only earth people on Mars in the year 2017. And no one really wants them there." I remember this sentiment extends to the conceited schoolkids, who are mean and snobbish towards any humans not born on Mars. There's a Mars kitten named Mitten. In Martian newspapers, human ages are converted to Martian years.
Unfortunately (mainly because I appreciate the fast response) but it's not Silverberg's Lost Race Of Mars.  Good guess, though.  I should mention that there was no animosity or indifference shown towards the family by the other colonists.
It's a long shot, but have you looked at the science fiction books by Jean and Jeff Sutton?  They were originally published in the late 50s through the early 70s and, as I remember, there are a couple titles that feature a brother and sister.   The Beyond, Alien from the Stars and The Man Who Had the Power are the titles I remember, although I can't remember the plots, they were good.

CS Lewis, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Part of me thinks that everyone must have heard of this book, what with the recent film and all...so perhaps you have already considered this. But this description sounds so like The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe where four children stumble through the back of a wardrobe into another magical world.  It is dark and snowing the first time they go.
Sorry, but I don't think that this is the answer. The book that I remember did not involve winter at all...just twilight
Do you have any idea what period the book was set in?
LeGuin, Ursula, The Beginning Place. A few details are different, but The Beginning Place is definitely about a magical land where it is always twilight. Two young adults (20-ish) both find a way into the magical land (Tebrabrezi, I think) by crossing a stream in a forest. They meet there in the village, and help the villagers with a problem they are having. My favorite book.

This book is definately from a school reader, I've read it as a child too, but I don't remember the title. Sorry, and good luck.

Thornton Burgess, The Burgess Animal Book for Children.  This book is still in print at Dover Publications. It's also available as a free e-text.
M412: I had this years ago, but the title will be tricky to remember. That's because, in all likelihood, you're thinking of one of Thornton W. Burgess' (1874 - 1965) books, and he wrote at least 170! Mother Nature is the "teacher." The animals tell about themselves in class, but it's clearly more for the reader's benefit than for the characters'. Your best bet is to go to the Burgess website and email them with your question, since the booklist there doesn't make the answer quite clear. Burgess was best known for his Adventures of... series and his Mother West Wind series. What's unusual about the book is that Mother Nature usually appears as a character only in the Mother West Wind series, which consisted of short stories, while this book was a full-length "story."
Thornton Burgess, Looks like you haven't had a confirmation on this from the original poster, but my suggestion (the Animal Book) is definitely the book that has the animals going to Mother Nature's school, learning about each others' habits, and not being allowed to hurt each other in class.

This sounds just like Seven Spells to Sunday by Andre Norton. 

dan billany, the magic door. the book you are thinking of is, I'm sure the magic door. Dan Billany was my uncle and my mother, Joan illustrated it.I still have the original manuscript and drawings but sadly only one copy of the book.

The full book is by Kathryn Jackson, as well as the story.

Cornelia Meigs, Mystery of the Red House, 1961. Not the right era, but this book is about a family that comes across a mysterious empty house in the middle of the woods while on a picnic.  There's even a table, laid out for dinner, that looks like people just walked away.  The kids find a note that leads them on a treasure hunt to solve the mystery.  The author wrote her more famous books between the 20s and the 40s, so maybe this is actually a reprint or reworking of an older title?

Jean Van Leeuwen,  Steven Kellogg illus., The great Christmas kidnaping caper.  Dial, 1975.  "In comfortable residence at Macy's during the Christmas season, Merciless Marvin the Magnificent and his gang are convinced that the store's Santa Claus has been kidnapped and determine to save him."

Eleanor Farjeon, Mrs. Malone, 1950.  Farjeon published this story-poem as a picture-book in 1950. I'm not sure if the poem is included in her collection "Poems for Children", published in 1951, but it may well be.  The poem is also in Eleanor Graham's "A Puffin Quartet of Poets", published in 1958. The poets are Farjeon, Ian Serraillier, James Reeves and E.V. Rieu. But that may be just a little late for you.

 Mr. Tibbets, I recall a book called The Terrible Mr. Tibbetts (or Tibbets?), one of the TAB/Scholastic offerings in the 60's, but I can't find anything listed in WorldCat.
Was your Mr. Tibbit/Tibbet/Tibbets an English book?  My sister (ca. late '70's?) had an English book (Enid Blyton-type mass- produced W.H.Smith-kind of thing) with the everyday adventures of a middle-aged man who lived in your typical small English place.
I think the Scholastic edition someone suggested is THE TERRIBLE MR. TWITMEYER by Lilian Moore, but I don't think that's the book requested (the WorldCat subject heading record reads "Dogs - Fiction").  Moore's book was originally published in 1952.

Keith Laumer, Combat Unit, 1960.  This short story is about a Bolo tank reactivated for combat after 300 years. It was originally published as 'Dinochrome' in The Magazine of F&SF in November 1960. It has been reprinted in the book Odyssey by Keith Laumer, edited by Eric Flint. A free sample of the book that includes the story can be found here.
Theodore Sturgeon, Killdozer, 1944.  I agree it's probably the Laumer story someone has already suggested, but the mention of "years as a construction machine" makes me wonder if the requestor is (also?) thinking of Theodore Sturgeon's story "Killdozer," in which a bulldozer is taken over by a hostile mental force from a long-dead civilization (not another planet).  If so, that one has been anthologized several times.

Wright, Betty Ren, Snowball, 1952.  Could this be it?  The only synopsis I can find:  Story about a white Poodle, Snowball, and how he goes from white as snow to black as coal. The cover is red with a picture of the poodle, Snowball, white on head and back and black on feet and underparts.  Not sure what turned him to this coloring.  It is a Whitman Tell a Tale (Fuzzy Wuzzy) book, which means that there was flocking on some of the pictures.
I remember Snowball.  He turned black after sliding down a coal chute.
DIRTY HARRY, 1965??, approximate.  Harry is a white dog with black spots who does not like to bathe; he goes on a big adventure and gets so dirty that he turns into a black dog with white spots.  When he gets home, his family doesn't recognize him, so he runs to get the scrubbing brush for a bath...you know the rest!!  Sound familiar? (Children's  book)  Good luck!

Patricia Coombs, Mouse Cafe.In Mouse Cafe, there is a mouse waitress, I can't remember her name - something like Lollimops. She works very hard and one day meets a handsome gentleman mouse that asks her to marry him.  The size and color of the book match your description.  Might be this!
Celeste Mouse. I think that the book that you are looking for is called Celeste Mouse.  It was a picture book published in the 70's or 80's, in it Celeste Mouse goes about her day, and makes tea.  She was wearing a pink dress.  I don't remember much else about it ,though.

Evelyn Sibley Lampman, The City Under the Back Steps, 1960.  A boy and his cousin are playing on the back steps when they are bitten by a queen ant and "shrunk" to ant size. When they are found by the ants, they are initially taken as "pets" and then they are found to have special talents that can be used by the ants--the girl is wearing a pinafore and the pockets can be used to carry the eggs from place to place. The boy has a pocket knife and can save the scout ants from the deadly antlions. The book takes you through the "day-to-day" life of an ant colony from foraging for food, to taking care of the "nursery".The children forge friendships and help save the colony from an enemy camp. The queen grants their wish to become large again. They are grateful and when they return to natural size, they remember the experience, and quit stepping on ants.
Johm F. Carson, The Boys Who Vanished.  Here's another possibility.  This one is about two boys who drink an experimental drug, are reduced to insect size, and must trek across a vacant lot to find their way home.  Details people usually remember are:   the boys dress in tunics made from leaves, they eat dried insects found in spiderwebs, when they get home they grow back gradually to normal size over a period of weeks, and there's a rather memorable cover picture of them being threatened by a giant spider.
Sheila Moon, Knee-Deep in Thunder,  1967.  Another possibility is Knee-Deep in Thunder.  The very short CIP data reads: "An unusual stone provokes a journey into an underground world of fantasy where Maris is guided by a dog-sized beetle." Maris is joined by several other insects on the quest though...there's a red ant and a brown ant, another beetle, and (if I recall correctly) a caterpillar. A boy also joins them. I think that one group of ants were the enemy though, and were trying to stop the group.  In the end, Maris returns to normal size...but there was a sequel!
jay Williams, Danny Dunn and the Smallfying Machine.  There is an entry on the D page about the Danny Dunn series, although this one is not mentioned. Danny and his friends Joe and Irene get shrunk by the professor's new machine and have adventure's in Danny's back yard. I read this in the 70's. A possibility.

George Mendoza, Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse!, 1981.  Illustrated by Doris Smith. Also published as "House by Mouse" in UK. Long out of print and highly sought after. I have a friend who has one and she won't even let me borrow it!
George Mendoza, Need a house? call Ms. Mouse!, 1980.  This is definitely the book you are looking for "Henrietta Mouse designs houses to fit the special needs of her animal friends."

I am responding to the M440 stumper about "3 Modern Musketeers"... "little to go on" with... little to go on!  I am sorry I cannot provide author and title, but I do very faintly recall reading a wonderful series of books about a group of men, and I think there were 3 of them, who had been through the French Resistance together.  They had done many brave things and one of them had been tortured (his fingernails had been removed).  I think they called themselves the Animals or had animal nicknames.  One of them I think was called the Tiger.  Anyway, the books were very well written and they covered what happens AFTER the men reach retirement age.  The men end up helping the French chief of police in solving various crimes/mysteries. they also embark on some adventures themselves.  The humor is often dark and the writing is suspensful and "gritty" at times.   Even if this is not the answer to the stumper, I highly recommend these books.

I can't remember the title of this book either, but the plot sounds really familliar, perhaps I can shed some more light on this.  I remember that the boy made a pot, and wanted to trade it for a parrot in a cage, but the merchant wanted more than just the pot, so he pushed the merry-go-round for money.  He ended up making several trades, eventually having something nice enough to trade for the parrot, but ended up buying a serape for his grandfather instead.

Paul Gallico, The Man Who Was Magic,1966. Perhaps? The edition I saw had a rose on the cover.I haven't read it in ages, so I can't be certain of the details.

Rosamund Pilcher, Shell Seekers,1987. A long shot but perhaps this adult book.  Penelope and Richard have a wartime affair.  He dies in the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day.  After she finds out, she remembers him reading to her about "there will be sunlight later".  After the chapter flashback she realizes that she is content and grateful for having known him.  There are passages about meals (roast lamb!) but no recipes that I recall.  The Shell Seekers is a painting by her father, Lawrence Stern.
Reichl, Ruth, Comfort Me With Apples, 2001. This reminds me of Ruth Reichl's  memoirs, most likely the second one, Comfort Me With Apples.  It's a little newer than you remember, but it does have the affair and lots of yummy recipes
Two people have submitted possible answers to the mystery - both good - however, I don't believe either is the book I'm looking for.  As I recall, this woman would have been a housewife in possibly the late 50s, or early 60s. Is it possible to put a "thanks" on there from me, but asking for continued clues from others?
Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County, 1992. Was it The Bridges of Madison County?  Set in 1965 Iowa - a National Geographic photographer has a love affair with a married woman, Francesca.  The book is Francesca's memories as she looks back on that affair.
Theodora Fitzgibbon, With Love, Love Lies a Loss. 1950s??? This rings a bell with me for a series of memoirs by Theodora Fitzgibbon, an Irish writer who also wrote cookbooks. The memoirs detail a bohemian/jet set life during and after WWII - hanging out at the pub with Dylan Thomas, etc.  She has affairs and in fact in the second book her marriage breaks up.  Both very good memoirs, anyway, if you want to check them out.

Terry Southern, The Magic Christian. This sounds like it - the plot fits, and the cover is green.
George Barr McCutcheon, Brewster's Millions, 1902. Sounds like this popular novel which has been in print since it's first publication, and made into movies at least five times. Synopsis: New York, 1900. Montgomery Brewster is a man of great potential. Heir to his uncle's fortune, he is a playboy, very much the American equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster. However, unlike Bertie, Monty Brewster has a shrewd intellect behind his shallow exterior. Following his uncle'\''s death, he discovers the old man has bequeathed one million dollars to him . . . or, if he is up to the challenge, he can win 7 million by spending the one million dollar inheritance within the space of a year. When Monty decides to go for the big jackpot, he has to keep his plans a secret from everyone -- even though it may cost him his fiance and his friends.

Kent, Jack, The Wizard, 1971. The mouse goes to the wizard because he doesn't like being a mouse, the wizard gives him a bottle whose lable has fallen off and when the mouse asks "What will it turn me into?" the wizard answers "Something else - that's what you said you wanted to be."  While the mouse imagines what it will turn him into (butterflies are pretty but they don't live very long, turtles live a long time but they aren't pretty and they're slow, bees are fast but they work hard, ants get stepped on, birds sing happy songs but they eat worms, and <horrors!!> what if it turned him into a cat who eats MICE??)  The mouse decides there's nothing the spell could turn him into that he would enjoy being ("Being me has its problems but at least I know what they are.  Whatever I turn into might have bigger ones") and returns the magic spell to the wizard - who is elated that the spell worked (the mouse was unhappy before and now he's happy so the spell changed him).  So the wizard rips all the labels off of all his magic spell bottles and "After that, whenever anyone in Wallaby Wallow felt unhappy with his lot, he know what to do.  He would buy one of the wizard's wonderful magic spells.  They never failed to work--as long as the bottles weren't uncorked."
Kent, Jack (author and illustrator) , The Wizard of Wallaby Wallow,1971. You're right, this is published by Parents Magazine Press!  Unfortunately out of print, but not hard to find.  Also available as an animated film in the Scholastic Video Collection as a bonus story (The Wizard by Jack Kent) on the DVDs "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and More Magical Tales" and "Chrysanthemum and more Kevin Henkes Stories."

Margaret Mahy. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but you could have a look at Margaret Mahy's children's story anthologies. I think the one with the story about chewing gum might be the one with the story I'm thinking of.
Tistou of the Green Thumbs, 1950s, approximate.

McInnes, John, Mr Whiskers,1961. Just a guess - it was the only chapter book (158 pgs.) about a Mr. Whiskers that I could find, but I couldn't find any description.

Roy Thomas, Jon Buscema, Val Mayerik, The Chronicles of Conan Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories, 2006, reprint.
I have two possibilities: 1. If this was a story about Conan, she-pirate Belit, and a Killer Moth, in  Conan the Barbarian - "This is the Night of the Killer Moth" / "On the track of the She-Pirate" , Conan #61, Marvel Comics, 1976 then perhaps the answer to your question "what emerged?" might be found in
Conan the Barbarian- "Amra, Lord of the Lions"/"Dwellers in Darkness" , Conan # 63, Marvel Comics 1976 in which Conan re-unites with Belit.
These Conan issues are currently in print in the compilation "The Chronicles of Conan Volume 9: Riders of the River-Dragons and Other Stories" by Roy Thomas, Jon Buscema, and Val Mayerik [Dark Horse, 2006]. 2. Killer Moth and his Moth Men, Larva and Pupa, are villains in the Batman series, DC comics.  Killer Moth, aka Cameron Van Cleer, was later called Charaxes.  Killer Moth traps his victims by spinning them into cocoons.  He first appeared in Batman, DC comics #53. He had an encounter with Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, [later called Oracle], in her first appearance in DC Comics #359 (1967) she is 'cocooned' by Killer Moth but is rescued by Batman.  Killer Moth appears in other issues as well The Killer Moth website is here: He-Man, a "Conan-type" warrior with bulging muscles and a sword, appeared in DC comics as well, in the series "Masters of the Universe" 1982-3. I don't know if these 2 characters ever appeared together in a DC comic.
I regret that neither of the suggestions was the book that I've been looking for.  While the main character was of the Conan type, I'm almost 100% certain that it was not Conan himself, as that was a big enough name that I'd have remembered it.  That said, I still ordered a copy of Chronicles of Conan #9, just to be sure, but it just arrived and it's not the one.  It was also definitely not the Batman villain, Killer Moth, nor was it an issue of He-Man.  It was not a single Moth-person, but an entire city of them, in the middle of a jungle somewhere.  (Some of the residents of the city may have been more caterpillar-like than moth-like, eg. multiple arms, no wings.) I've been taking a hard look at lesser-known warrior characters, such as Ka-Zar and Kull, but so far no luck.  Thanks for trying!

Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood, Whispering Willows, 1964. It sounds like Whispering Willows by Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood.  It's about a young teenage girl who lives with her uncle who is the caretaker for Willow Hill Cemetery.  Her mother died a few years earlier.  The book begins when she is about to enter high school and concludes right after she earns her diploma.

Consuelo Joerns, The Lost and Found House, 1979.

Jane Langton, The Diamond in the Window. A brother and sister search for Prince Krishna's treasure in their rambling old house. A statue holding a lamp on the staircase plays an important role.

Stephen King, Cujo, 1981. This is probalby too easy, but could you be thinking of the Stephen King novel Cujo?   The book tells the story of the middle-class Trenton family and rural Camber clan in Castle Rock, Maine. Marital and financial difficulties of the mundane sort plague disgraced advertising man Vic Trenton and his adulterous wife Donna. Their domestic problems are dwarfed by the mortal danger when Donna and her four-year-old son Tad are terrorized by a rabid St. Bernard named Cujo.  The most unusual stylistic element of the narrative is that it occasionally switches to the perspective of the canine title character. Like Kojak from The Stand, Cujo sees humans as extraordinary, nearly divine figures (for example, all adult males), referring to Joe Camber and Gary Pervier as THE MAN, Donna Trenton and Charity Camber as THE WOMAN, and Brett Camber and Tad Trenton as THE BOY.
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937, copyright.  This sounds like an excerpt from the end of Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.  This section has been widely excerpted/anthologized and so might be remembered as a short story.  The main character is Janie.  Her third husband, Tea Cake, is bitten by a rabid dog during a hurricane in Florida.  He deteriorates hideously, with the symptoms the oringinal poster described.  In the end, Janie has to shoot him to prevent him shooting her.
This is a long shot, but I wonder if this isn't the 1968 story "Bite" by by Lawrence A. Perkins. It appeared in Analog science fiction magazine, July 1967. The reason I say it's a long shot, in that story the guy is bitten by a squirrel. He is a doctor and a really unpleasant, ill-mannered person. He refuses to believe he has rabies while he clearly has the signs. Another doctor locks him up against his will. There is an experimental cure for rabies but if the victim lives he might be a carrier and pass the disease to whomever he comes in contact with.

I talked to my mother, who used to read me the book. She told me what I remember to be a monster was a polar bear. Also, she said we bought this book at the post office. We would also purchase ladybird books and Rupert books there as well. She said it was made between 1971-1975 and is a very short book. It was definitely made in England and designed for very young readers.

Daniel Wilcox, I'm My Mommy/ I'm My Daddy. My daughter had this book in the mid-eighties. Held one way, it was a story about the child pretending to be the mother and spending the day taking her mom to do the kinds of things they did together. Flipped upside down, it was a similar story about a child pretending to be the father. It was an over-sized book, and the parts about the zoo and park were there.
Daniel Wilcox, I'm My Mommy/ I'm My Daddy. This might be a stretch, but the description triggered a memory of one of my own books from childhood. I'm My Mommy/ I'm My Daddy, published in 1975, featured drawings with the Muppets/Sesame Street characters. It was a two-in-one book in that you flip it over to read the other story, and it was a larger than usual size. A Muppet boy decides to trade places with his Daddy (and the other side had a Muppet girl trade places with her Mommy). I remember that they do go to the park or zoo, Daddy gets a balloon and lets go of it and cries and the boy has to comfort him. I think he also pretends to be scared of one of the animals, and the boy reassures him.

Gardner, Martin, Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers, 1969. Well it's not a side view but rather a full face view of his head, but he does have a maze starting at his collar, running through his mustache and glasses, and ending in his bowler hat.  Some of the puzzles include:  Ridiculous Riddles, Five Airy Creatures, The maze of the Minotaur, The Dime-and-Penny Switcheroo, A Dozen Droodles for Nimble Noodles, Sally''s Silly Walk, Folding Money Fun, Solve the Bird Equasions, etc.
I believe this is/was from Dover Publications.
Martin Gardner, Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers, 1969. The book also appeared in a 1988 edition with a lion and a bat on the cover. This version was a paperback.

James Riddell, Hit or Myth. This book is either Hit or Myth, More Animal Lore and Disorder by James Riddell, or possibly a similar book by the same author. Hit or Myth was one of my favorites as a kid. The cover of my copy has a unicorn and lion with the heads mixed up on the other's body. Starts out with a "Rabster" (Rabbit + Rooster) and ends with a "Dranet" (Dragon + Cygnet). The borders of the text page are color-coded so you knew when you had a "real" match, though the "real" matches weren't ever as interesting as the mixed animals.
James Riddell, Hit or Myth, 1949. Lots of fun. It was reprinted in the 1970s. Animals (Riddell did the pictures) include a rabbit, a rooster, a gorilla, a mermaid, and a unicorn. "Illustrated with exaggerated paintings of fourteen animals, the pages halved horizontally so that some 200 different animals may be created." There's apparently a sequel - Hit or Myth: More Animal Lore and Disorder. Not to be confused with at least four other books with the same first three words in the title.

A couple of guesses--  The Magic Pencil, Miguel A Venedicto, Vantage Pr., 1977, 49 pgs., illus.   Or----  The Magic Pencil, Scapa, Scribner, 1976, ISBN 0684148226, 26pg., illus.  "Because Simon doesn't know what to do, Toby helps him draw an adventure every day."
Storr, Catherine, The Magic Drawing Pencil, 1958, copyright.  Originally published in the UK as "Marianne Dreams."  Marianne is sick in bed. She finds the pencil in her mother's sewing box.  Her drawings become more detailed as time progresses. Mark is the boy she draws in the house and he is also ill - yes this is a really tense book and the UK tv series "Escape into Night" which was based on the novel was equally memorable.
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams.  If it was actually a girl doing the drawing, this would be Marianne Dreams, sometimes also known as Paperhouse or The Magic Drawing Pencil (apparently names of screenplay (?) versions).  Marianne dreams of the boy she draws, draws eyes on the rocks surrounding the house... it's all there.  There's also a sequel called Marianne and Mark.
Most likely Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. See Solved Mysteries. This was made into the British 1988 low-key horror movie, "Paperhouse." To my surprise, I found that that was actually the SECOND filming of the book - the previous one was a highly rated, six-part, British TV mini-series from 1972, titled "Escape Into Night." You can read the IMDb comments here, if you like: http://imdb.com/title/tt0357363/usercomments.
Storr, Catherine, Marianne Dreams, 1958.  I believe you are thinking of Marianne Dreams (see Solved Mysteries). The main character is a girl, but there is also a boy in the story. Still in print. (corrected Author)
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams, 1958.  I think this may be the book you're thinking of. Marianne is ill in bed. She is given an indelible pencil and dreams every night about what she has drawn. She meets another child, Mark, and the other things you mention are all in the book (the stones etc) Marianne Dreams is still in print (Published by Faber) so should be easy to get hold of.
Catherine Storr, Marianne Dreams.  Could this book have been about a girl?  Marianne Dreams (made into a movie called "Paperhouse") is about a girl who's bedridden and draws pictures that she then dreams about.  One is of a house, one of a boy she adds to the house, and one of rocks which grow not fangs but eyes.  The girl and boy have to escape from the house and get to the sea.
I think this is Marianne Dreams, AKA The Magic Drawing Pencil- The rocks are scared of light so Marianne draws a lighthouse so that she and the boy in the dream can get to safety- always thought it was a bit daft of her not to draw a nice big sun!

Hans Jurgen Press, The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang.  This has pictures throughout the book that you can look at and find clues to help you solve the mystery.
I vaguely remember a similar book in the late 70s--I think it was called "The Black Hand Gang" and was by an author named either Otto or Press.  Maybe that will give someone else a clue!

This sounds a lot like the Disney movie "The One and Only, Original Family Band" that was released in the mid-60s, starring Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen and a very young Kurt Russell. Could the movie be based on the book you're remembering?

Diana Wynne Jones, The Dark Lord of Derkholm, The Year of the Griffin.  A long shot but those elements are in The Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones.  The boy and girl are magical brother Blade and bard sister Shona. The flying pigs are a prophecy come true that a missing elf prince will return to his brother and father.  The head of the university has an affinity with snakes.  In The Year of the Griffin, the griffin daughter of the dark lord moves a mountain in the Waste in a fit of temper and is sent to school to learn magic.  She meets five other misfits, a prince, the emperor's half-sister, a dwarf, a pirate's daughter and an emir's brother and they all become friends.
I love those books!  Such a good read, even if it's not what you're looking for :)

Two Ruth Chew books, maybe?
Tepper, Sheri S., Beauty, 1991, copyright.  Beauty is a contemporary retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with Snow White and some other fairy tale characters thrown in.  It is NOT a children's book, though, definitely an adult fantasy, because it is very violent and ugly in places.  She has shoes or boots that allow her to travel through time.

Grace Allen Hogarth, The Funny Guy.  Maybe this one.  Helen lives with her father and Aunt Cris.  Her mother is in the hospital so money is tight.  She's lonely and does weird things around the other kids earning her the name "Funny Guy".  I remember she eats a caterpillar on a dare.  Not sure if this is the book you're thinking of but I thought it was worth a mention.
Could this one be either 'The Boyhood of Grace Jones' or 'The Majesty of Grace', both by Jane Langton?  Although it's been years since I read either, and I think both parents are alive, there is something about Grace and bloomers in one of the books.
Grace Allen Hogarth, The Funny Guy.  Definitely The Funny Guy. I remember the bloomers incident clearly. Some nasty children from her school steal Helen's clothes while she is swimming at the waterhole.

Well there's "Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens."  'The story of old Granny Glittens, who dyed her yarn with lemon drops and chocolate bars and candy canes, and made Christmas mittens that you could actually eat!'  You can find this story in several old Christmas anthologies - Gertrude Crampton, The Golden Christmas Book (1947) /   Smith, Dorothy Hall, Tall Book of Christmas (1954) / Kathryn Jackson, The Santa Claus Book (1952).

Edward Lear, The Pobble Who has No Toes.  Don't know which edition you read, but this is definitely it.
The Pobble Who Has No Toes by Edward Lear.

Henry S. Harrison, Miss Hinch, 1911.  I think I had the same textbook... the story is "Miss Hinch".  Other stories in the book included "The Monkey's Paw", "The Most Dangerous Game", and "The Problem of Cell 13".
This is indeed Miss Hinch! I read mine in the old children's literature series THE CHILDREN'S HOUR-1953-the Spencer Press. It is in volume 7- Favorite Mystery Stories-p 179.

Here is a website on Malta during WWII:  http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/Malta%20WWII/Index.htm.  There is a pretty good list of books if you click on the link "Books/Video" in the left-hand panel (index).

Ets, Marie Hall, Nine Days to Christmas, 1960. Could this be Nine Days to Christmas?  Not a birthday party but Ceci's first Christmas celebration, complete with pinata. The illustrations are primarily pinks and yellows.

Holmberg, Ake, Tam Sventon, private detective, 1960, copyright.  Could it have been the Tam Sventon series? Tam Sventon, private detective, Tam Svemton, desert detective, Tam Sventon and the silver-plate gang, Tam Sventon and the discovery P3x.
Erich Kaestner, Emil and the Detectives, 1934, copyright.  Possibly Emil and the Detectives and the sequel, Emil and the Three Twins? Set in Germany. "Emil is travelling by train to Berlin to holiday with his cousins but he falls asleep and his precious money is stolen. Emil sets out to catch the thief, helped by a large number of small boys." I seem to remember one of the Detectives having a motorbike, and also thinking he seemed too young to drive.
This could very well be the detective series by Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking author) featuring Bill Bergson: Bill Bergson, Master Detective, Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue, Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously.  One of the girls is named Eva Lotta! I loved this series!!
Karin Anckarsvard, 1960, approximate.  I'm guessing this is the series by Anckarsvard (who has two dots over the last a in her name).  The Robber Ghost, The Mysterious Schoolmaster, Madcap Mystery...(there might have been a couple other titles like Rider by Night and the Riddle of the Ring).  The first book is about Michael and Cecelia, two Swedish friends who solve a mystery about their teacher. (He's a spy, I think.)  In subsequent stories, other friends join the group. In Madcap Mystery, Michael definitely rides around on a motorized scooter.  I think they do get locked in a cellar, or a cave, or a basement in each book!

Pamela Service, Winter of Magic's Return / Tomorrow's Magic, mid-80s.  You're looking for this fantasy/sci-fi duet.  Arthur returns as an orphaned schoolboy in a world covered in ice and snow. Another boy, who has a reputation as being a problem is a returned Merlin. Along with a girl from the orphanage, the three battle Morgan le Fay, who wants to rule this icy world.
Peter Dickinson, The Weathermonger,  1969, copyright.   Rings enough bells to punt this as a possible solution - it involves a confused Merlin in the modern world, a title with "Weather" rather than "Winter" and was a '70s book rather than an '80s.  And of course you should read it if you have not yet had the pleasure of doing so.