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C1: Coal
I was apparently confusing this with Astrid Lindgren's Noisy Village books. This is a children's novel, and I think the author is Scandanavian. It involves a group of kids, and the naughty boy of the group gets a lump of coal in his stocking for Christmas. I remember the line: "The impossible had happened. He got a lump of coal."

Not much to go on, but maybe one of Dikken Zwilgmeyer's books, like Four Cousins? He was writing in Norwegian, translated by Emilie Poulsson, and wrote about mischievous children.
Another possible is Afke's Ten by Ninke van Hichtum (real name: Sjouke Troelstra-Bokma de Boer), translated from the Dutch by Marie Pidgeon, illustrated by Hilda van Stockum, published Lippincott 1936, 256 pages. It's the story of 10 children on a Frisian island through a year. "Mother Afke, Father Marten and their ten children. The story begins with the appearance of a new brother and relates the day to day adventures which make up their lives." Apparently as much of a classic in Holland as Little Women is here.
This is apparently quite similar to the Noisy Village stories: The Hill House by Ragnhild Chevalier Williams, illustrated by Kurt Werth, published by McKay 1966, 160 pages "based on the author's childhood in Bergen,
Norway, has frequent changes of scene and introduces new characters from an enormous circle of friends, relatives and servants. The separate, often suspense-filled episodes re-create the fun and mischief of child play, the sharing of handed-down stories, and the anticipated excitement of special family gatherings and national festivals." (Horn Book Feb/66 p.60)
This doesn't really fit, but I keep wanting to suggest it - Kersti and Saint Nicholas, by Hilda Van Stockum, published by Viking 1940 "Kersti is the seventh, last, and naughtiest daughter of the van Disselens, and she has a way with her. Even Saint Nicholas and his faithful helper Pieterbass find themselves leaving gifts for the bad children on the good Saint's birthday - and it's all Kersti's fault." (Horn Book Dec/40 p.382 pub ad) It's European and involves naughty children and Christmas.
C1 Just verified that Lindgren Xmas at Noisy Village is NOT it
1970?  Beleive it or not, this might have been published in Cosmopolitan magazine, when it wasn't so sleazy. I recall that line, about the Impossible, the thing that wasn't supposed to happend to any child, finally coming true. There was also a segment where the children lost money to buy a Christmas tree, and another where a rich relative sends a giant barrel full of mud. It was rather somber in tone, ending with comments about WW2.


C8: country visit
Solved: Eighteen Cousins

C12: Charlie the yellow cat
Solved: Charlie
click here for image
C16: Chinese boats & rice cakes

The other book I have a harder time remembering but it was a book set in the orient (probably China) about an oriental boy who rides around in a small boat and he has some rice cakes or rice patties with him. It was highly stylized in its illustration. All the pictures (and the cover) were done in almost entirely (if not entirely) green and black ink and were extremely detailed and intricate, similar to traditional asian painting styles. I also think this book didn't have a lot of words. I think it was sort of wide and short, like an 8.5x11 sheet of paper turned on its side. I'm sure it doesn't help but it always smelled strongly of cheese to me as a young boy. I now know it was the glue used in the binding (I've smelled it in other books).

This might be a book that I think was called Ping, but that involved a duck and his "master."  The duck (whose name is Ping) lived on the Yangtze river in a boat with his master.  One day, as I recall, he goes exploring.  At one point he is lured by a naughty little boy with rice cakes and is trapped under a basket.  I think Ping eventually gets back to his kindly old master.  The book was fairly short and written for first-graders and was in a landscape layout.  I don't remember the colors, but I do remember the boats had exotic looking eyes painted on their bows.
Well now, I did think about Ping, but I'd forgotten that bit about the rice cakes (the good master has no mention of rice cakes!).   But this probably is a match.
Flack, Marjorie.  The Story of Ping.  Illustrated by Kurt Wiese. New paperback available for $6.
Sorry, this is not the book.  I checked out a picture of the cover on Amazon.com.  The illustration style is all wrong.  The book I'm thinking of had very monochromatic drawings, I think just greens and blacks and grays, drawn with thin lines like pen and ink.  Thanks though.  Keep looking.
First, relating to C-16 but not necessarily to be posted (mostly because it wouldn't help any), I remember reading "Ping" as a child. Like all my other favorite childhood books, it got put in the "give-away" box.....  :(
A possible, but no mention of rice cakes: Martin, Patrica Miles The Dog and the Boat Boy color illus. by Earl Thollander, 48 pages, Putnam, 1969 "The adventures of Chung Yong, a boy who lives on a boat in Hong Kong's crowded harbor. Chung Yong wants to keep a dog he has found, but his grandmother wants a cat which will kill the mice on the boat. ... The craggy, almost cartoon-like drawings (in subdued shades of purple, gray, and brown) ... occasional splashes of bright orange ..."
There's also Chinese Ink Stick by Kurt Wiese, Doubleday 1929, which includes a little boy who travels with his father, a tea merchant. It's 199 pages, though, so probably too long. Eleanor Lattimore's Little Pear (Harcourt 1931) falls into the river and is rescued by a man on a boat, but that's 144 pages.
Another written and illustrated by Eleanor Frances Lattimore is Fisherman's Son, published by Morrow, 1959, 128 pages. Small Liang is the oldest of fisherman Liang's children, and the only boy. Horn Book says "their daily life on a river boat in China is told in ten chapters with simplicity and charm. Pleasing, clear type and lively drawings." Size and shape of book not mentioned, but apparently for early readers.
Yet another, but finally short enough - Little Fu, written and illustrated with lithographs by Raymond Creekmore, published Macmillan 1949, unpaginated with map, grades 1-3 "Fu has an eventful trip down the great Min River to Foochow where his father sells his cargo of tea. After an exciting day they go home in a new motor boat with steel sides instead of bamboo leaves. The black and white lithographs are excellent." (Children's Catalog 1956)
C16 chinese boat: well, the shape is right and it's about an Asian boy and boats - Nu Dang and His Kite, written and illustrated by Jacqueline Ayer, published Harcourt 1959, 31 pages, 10x8". "Unusual drawings with splashes of color - orange, cerise, coral and green - give a real sense of the busy life of Bangkok, the river and canals lined with shops and filled with boats: the vendors of lotus and jasmine, curry sauce and chilies; the chick-pea-green-bean boat; the "all kinds of fish" boat. Nu Dang's search for his kite, which the wind had carried away, took him far up the 'long brown river', through the Floating Market, into a small canal, through a herd of lazy gray water buffalo, past shops and a farm house until he finally turned home ..." (HB Apr/59 p.121) There's a sample double-page spread shown, interspersing blocks of text with detailed line-drawings (NOT brush-style) "Out on the big river, he came first to a vendor of sweet cakes and colored water. 'Have you seen my kite?' But the vendor was much too busy to notice a lost kite. Nowhere. Not anywhere. No kite at all."
Meindert deJong, The House of Sixty Fathers,  1955.  This is a novel, not a picture book, so it may not be the right one, but there are enough similarities that it might be worth looking up. There is an Asian boy on a houseboat and a scene with ducks, and the original cover (illustrations are by Maurice Sendak) fits the description you gave somewhat. Look at the library edition cover, not the paperback--both are still in print.
retold by Arlene Mosel, ill. Blair Lent, Tikki Tikki Tembo, 1968.  The illustrations are in black ink with green blue and
goldenrod blocks of color.  It is about 2 brothers, who disobey their parents and enjoy their rice cakes near a dangerous well.  When the younger brother, Chang, falls in, the older brother Tikki Tikki Tembo-No Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi-Pip Peri Pembo has no trouble finding help to get him out, but the next time they are eating their rice cakes near the well, and the older brother falls in, Chang has a hard time getting anyone to listen to him. There were''t any boats in this one, but there was a river where their mother was washing clothes.  I am basing my guess mainly on the mention of rice cakes and the quality of the pictures.
Marjorie Flack, The Story About Ping. This really is the book you are looking for. It was my favorite as a child and was delighted to see it available for my sons. I, in fact, found another copy at a used book store which is much older and beat up that I read to my youngest every night. Keith Weisse is the illustrator. You might be thinking about what the original looked like. This is Weisse's trademark Crayola look. Quite stunning and the "wise eyed boats" are quite alluring. But you'\''re wrong about the "boat boy" He wasn't naughty at all  it was his job, as "boat boy" to lure the animals to him. It is what makes Ping so charming, the cadance of the "beautiful yellow waters of the Yangze River," and the simple life of Chinese fishermen in the 1930s.


C17: Crafts
Also looking for a childrens craft book which had a bathing scene made out of salt dough or papier mache. There were old fashioned bathing huts and lots of people diving into the water.

C17 crafts: completely whistling in the dark, but maybe The Bread Dough Craft Book, by Elyse Sommer, illustrated by Giulio Maestro, published Lothrop 1972, 128 pages. "with six slices of bread, six teaspoons of white glue and a half a teaspoon of liquid detergent, a child can learn the basics of a centuries-old folk art ... how to mix, color, and work with the dough ... nearly 60 simple projects that children can create as gifts or decorations." The finished projects are apparently only shown as coloured drawings, though, and don't sound like the complex scenes described.


C18: Carosel Horse
Solved: A Book of Directions


C21: Car, out-of-date
Solved: Television Book of Hesperus


C24: Clown, Wardrobe, Jousting, Jacket Potatoes, Brussel sprouts
I remember reading this book in Liverpool in the early sixties. Some of the plot elements are similar to other well-known books, but it ain't them: family of children are visiting relative with old house, and sleeping in the same bed in the attic, which has the usual wardrobe. In the middle of the night a (very spooky) clown pokes his head out of the wardrobe and beckons to the children. This image seems to coincide with a remembered illustration that haunted me for years. They eventually venture into the wardrobe which turns out to be a lift (an elevator) with buttons that take you to different places. One place they visit is a medieaval jousting tournament, where they partake of hot jacket potatoes (another illustration springs to mind). At another location they meet a White-Knight sort of character sitting on a Brussels carpet with all sorts of bric-a-brac on it, and he makes a joke about whether, if vegetables grew up through his carpet, they would be Brussels sprouts. Hilarious if you're six, eh?  I seem to remember that the book itself was a paperback, of the same kind of size and format as those students' crib books ("Cole's Notes" in England), and that there was a coloured illustration of a proscenium arch stage with curtains on the cover. I know the wardrobe is a common prop, but the book is neither C.S. Lewis, nor a Glass Elevator. My undying gratitude if anyone can identify it!

#C24:  Clown, Wardrobe, etc.  If such a book indeed exists, I want it for a friend!  If he likes it, I want it for myself!  After hours of keyword searches in all sorts of places, I may have a resource for you.  A site called "Fantasy Finder" has a message board called "The Board Room."   Hopefully this is one of those places where they "know it, or know who knows it," and will be of interest to anyone whose queries involve fantasy.
#C24--This query was also posted on the message board of the British Fantasy Society in February 2001.  As of June, no answers.
This query was also posted on the Alibris list. A number of suggestions were made, but no cigar as yet.
C24---Been a while since I've read it but the clown thing (esp the illustration) sounds a lot like Diamond in the
Window by Jane Langton.
C24 Has customer checked Langton yet? I can ask a friend who has a copy for sale, but I notice there are plenty on the Net so I wonder if someone hasn't checked already.
C24 clown wardrobe: had a look at Diamond in the Window and there's no real correspondance - no clown figure, no elevator/lift in the wardrobe, no tournament, no puns. It might be worth looking at Erich Kastner's Thirty Fifth of May, published 1934, reprinted 1958 and 1961, 192 pages. "If this date isn't on your calendar, you'll wish it were after reading what happened to Conrad. It began at the magic door of a wardrobe, and led to the Land of Cockayne, where fruit salad grows on trees; the the Mighty Fortress of the Past for a hello with Hannibal, Julius Caesar and Napoleon; and on the Electropolis in Topsy Turvy country, notable for its school or unsatisfactory parents to be trained by children! Ages 9-12." At least it starts with a wardrobe and looks episodic and nonsensical, but I haven't read the book so can't confirm more.
Hey, shall I buzz back to Junior Bookshelf for the late 50s early 60s?  My first thought is Enid Blyton, because the structure is reminiscent of the Faraway Tree series ... but this is almost no help at all because she's so prolific and there don't seem to be any annotated bibliographies. And if it is her work, there won't be anything in Junior Bookshelf about it, for sure.I'm pretty sure it isn't E. Nesbit because I think I've read all of hers, including the short stories - though the one with the little girl shut in her room who discovers that the wardrobe/dresser is a magic train station sounds kind of reminiscent.
Doesn't seem like E. Nesbit to me, and I don't think it's Edward Eager or anyone well-known, as I posted it on a couple of fantasy boards and not even a nibble. The only other author I thought of was Margaret Storey, but
couldn't seem to find anything of hers pblished prior to 1965. I hope it's identified--I'm quite intrigued by it.
I'm sorry to say I can't be any more specific. Whenever I try to remember more detail I think I'm just making it up from people's suggestions! The memory of the Coles Notes size and binding may be a completely separate affair too.  Another memory that springs to mind, though again, it may be another book entirely, is a story wherein the "gateway" is the bottom of a helter-skelter. Did you ever come across a helter-skelter? Very old cheap funfare ride, consisting of a lighthouse shaped tower with a slide corkscrewing around the outside. One climbs up the interior stairs, takes a bristly mat and throws oneself onto the slide. They scared the hell out of me, and having read this story where a little girl (I think) continues at the bottom into the earth and ends up in some spooky place, I never did try it.  Thanks again for your help. I'll be looking at the King of Kurio this weekend.
Well, still plugging away at this, though not confident about this suggestion either: The Thirty-fifth of May, by Erich Kastner, illustrated by Walter Trier, published Franklin Watts 1961, 192 pages. "If this date isn't on your calendar, you'll wish it were after reading what happened to Conrad. It began at the magic door of a wardrobe, and led to the Land of Cockayne, where fruit salad grows on trees; the the Mighty Fortress of the Past for a hello with Hannibal, Julius Caesar and Napoleon; and on the Electropolis in Topsy Turvy country, notable for its school for unsatisfactory parents to be trained by children! Ages 9-12." (Horn Book Aug/61 p.302 pub ad) This is apparently a republication, and of course a translation, so it may have been published with various illustrators and in more than one country.
C24 clown wardrobe: I'm wondering now if this wasn't one of the many British children's annuals or "gift books", and this may have been a single or continuing story in it, perhaps along with the helter-skelter story? That would tie in with the memorable illustrations and punning humour, as well as the difficulty in IDing it, as these books weren't reviewed and there were a lot of them. Still, we got Peter Puffer's Fun Book!
C24 clown wardrobe: Not a solution, but perhaps someone looking for the same book - here's a description: "This is a book of children's fiction that I read in the 1950s. I am not sure when it was written. It concerns some children who go through an odd door in a wall and find themselves in a magical land. Fairly common theme but distinguishing features are that they can go up and down between parts of this land in a lift. The children make friends with a queen and her children who have been dispossessed of their kingdom - it is now in thrall to a set of 3 monsters - one is called I think the Hobbledee-something or other. Amongst the 'goodies' helping the queen and her family is an Elastic Dog who can walk miles but leave his back legs at home. A memorable monster is a squirrel with an eye in its tail - if it looked at you, you went blind. I would be delighted to find this book - I used to have to check under the bed every night to see that squirrel wasn't there, but I loved the book."
Bates, Joan Mary, The Magic Helter-Skelter.  London, Blackie 1959.  This is a suggested answer NOT for the stumper itself, but for the related stumper mentioned with it, about a helter-skelter. This description is from another forum : "It is about Anne who is a selfish type and her punishement involves a spell in Topsy Turvey Land where she has to walk on her hands and is given the freedom to gorge herself on chocolate until she becomes sick of the sight of it. Similar aversion therapy techniques are applied to money, and by the time she is allowed to return home she is transformed beyond recognition."
Sieman, Frank, The Kingdom of Punch. (London, Eyre & Spottiswoode 1957)  Yet another longshot! "Faith and Christopher meet an old tramp in the woods who leaves with them a bag containing the wooden figures of what he says are the real one and only Punch, and Judy, and Dog Toby. Because the children show love to them, these figures become alive with lifelike proportions and take the children back with them to the Kingdom of Punch that Punch might regain his rightfl throne and depose the tyrannical usurper who has taken his place. Here we have the adventures of the children and their friends of the Court of Punch as Scara the imposter is overthrown. ... constant chatter reminiscent of panotomime repartee." However, there are no illustrations.



C25: Country mouse cleans up
I have been searching for a child's storybook about a mouse who lives in the country and gets a letter that her cousin (I think) is coming to visit.  The country mouse's house is in terrible shape, dirty, clothes all over, dusty, dishes piled high.  She doesn't know where to begin but all her animal friends pitch in and help her clean house.  The moral of the story was if she kept it picked up each day, clothes hung up, etc., then she wouldn't find her house like that again.  I can still picture her in a red dress all nice and clean with the house all nice and clean.  This was a library picture book and no longer in circulation.  I checked with this library even went through each book in the children's section.  Thank you very much, would love to find this book.

Could it be The Country Mouse and the City Mouse.  That matches the story in that the city mouse calls and is coming to visit the country mouse.  My sister and I had this on a 45 record that came with a book when we were kids. Good Luck!
I will check this out, I know that I went through the City Mouse and the Country Mouse.  I don't remember it being on a record although it might have been but the local library only had the book.  I use to check it out when I was about 6-7 so that was about 1950 - 51.  I did search the website for the Country Mouse and the City Mouse after I saw the note on the bottom of mine, but I didn't see any that were published that early, so I will have to keep looking.  I even went through the listing of books through the Library of Congress under mouse just to try to find it.  Do you have any idea who would have written this one, maybe knowing the author might help.   Your website is really fantastic, just reading the others and what they were looking for also brought back some memories.  I thank you for the chance to post it and hopefully someday will locate it.  It was such a cute story with a big moral to it, as I said in my posting I can still see the pictures showing her dirty messy house, the cleaning up (her friends helping) and then the picture of her all dressed up in a clean dress and shoes (red), looking around at her nice clean house, waiting for her house guest. Thank you again for all your assistance.
The Country Mouse & the City Mouse is an Aesop tale; there have been so many versions that your best hope is to simply stumble across the one you remember. There is a Wonder Book from 1947 (Phoebe Erickson, ill.) that contains this tale, Peter Rabbit, & Henny Penny. I've seen this one around; check for it -- maybe you'll be lucky.
Well, if the emphasis is on cleaning for the visit rather than on country versus town, maybe: Van Leeuwen, Nans Spring Cleaning with Mrs. Mouse Amsterdam: Mulder & Zoon, n.d. (ca. 1968), decorated boards, "lovely colour illustrations throughout the book, a real charmer"
There's also Mrs. Mouse Cleans House, by Alison Uttley, published Heinemann 1952 "Spring cleaning always means a day of bustle and excitement for the Brown Mice at the Rose and Crown, but the day that scoundrel Rat came to help was the most exciting of all." No mention of a city visitor, but the date is closer.
M108 mouse wears red sounds like C25 country mouse cleans up. The 1950ish date, special occasion/visit, the red dress and shoes, ...
C25 mouse cleans up and M108 mouse wears red: Another possible is Margie Merry Mouse, written & illustrated by Willy Schermele (Blyton illustrator), published Clifford series 1950, reprint Agfa 1986. A mouse in a red dress cleans house with the help of friends. If it's the earlier printing it's not a bad match, though I couldn't find any mention of a visit as the reason for cleanup.
Elizabeth Upham, Little Mouse Dances.  I found this in a basic reader "More Friends and Neighbors" by Scott, Foresman, and Co. 1946.  It's not exactly as you describe but features a mouse who doesn't like to clean and lets the dirt and dust pile up while she sings and dances all day.  Then she buys a new red dress and shoes and they get dusty so she eventually cleans them up then goes ahead and cleans up everything else in her house because she enjoys the way the clean clothes look.  At the end she puts on her red dress, red shoes, and a red flower over her ear and dances in her clean house.  I hope this is what you're looking for.



C26: Crafts
I do not remember the name or author of two childrens books that I had when I lived in Cleveland in the late 40's or early 50's.  I may have gotten them in WV or in Cleveland.   They are oversized books and they contained crafts using simple household items.  One had a green cover and one had a yellow cover.  The covers were hardback and embossed.  They had no paper covers.

I have 2 really old craft books.  One is McCall's Giant Golden Make-It Book.   Copyright 1953 by Simon and Schuster, Inc., and Artists and Writers Press, Inc.The other one is newer McCall's Golden Do-It Book.  Copyright 1960 bye the McCall Corporation and Golden Press, Inc.Both of these are crafts made with at home items.  Perhaps one of these is what they are looking for.
A long shot, but maybe Toys You Can MakeChicago: Popular Mechanics Press, 1953, cloth, 160 pages. "Suggestions and diagrams for dozens, perhaps hundreds of toys you can make for your child. Most are wooden, this book being published before plastic took over the toy market. Hence the toys you can make are much more durable than anything you can buy today."
Tangley Oaks Education Center, Junior Instructor (Books 1 & 2), 1916, copyright.  Our copies were reprinted for the 40s.  They are embrossed yellow and red not green.  Lots of fun projects and readings.


C27: Christian brothers solve mysteries
The series of books I'm trying to recall involve two teen age brothers who solved mysteries, some what like the Hardy boys. However, the tales of these brothers had some Christian underpinings. The first book I read in the series was sent to me free from a church organization, this would have been in the late 50's. Later when I was probably 11 or 12, I found the series in the Brockton Public Library, Brockton, NY. I further recall that the boys lived in some very remote locale.

Don't know if thisis the series or not, as I don't know when they were first published, but it could be Frank Peretti's Cooper Kids Series.
This just might be the Jack Dawn series by Joseph Coughlin. He wrote a number of titles in the 1940s and one in the 1960s. I have a copy of Jack Dawn and the Vanishing Horses and it is a boys Christian mystery.
C27: Christian Brothers -- Bernard Palmer had a series about Danny & Ron Orliss -- published by Moody Press that was available in the 1950s; that *might* be it
Regarding the Orlis suggestion, I've finally seen one of these and there are some resemblances. The book is very Christian, with more than one conversion and a fair amount of discussion of Christian behaviour, and the Orlis family does live in the boonies, at Angle Inlet, without electricity, television, etc. The title list on the back cover mentions Ron Orlis as well as Danny, but there is no indication in this book whether Ron is an older or younger brother, or adopted, or where he is the rest of the time.
I think this person might be looking for the Danny Orwell series--there was also a radio program that aired on Saturday mornings during the late 1950s featuring these boys.  I hope I'm right about Danny's last name, but the shows (and the books) definitely had a Christian theme.
Could this be the Sugar Creek Gang series by Paul Hutchens? The boys in this series weren't brothers, but the two main characters were a boy named Bill and his best friend, nicknamed Poetry. The other members of the group were Dragonfly, Little Jim, Big Jim and Circus. The other details are similar to what you describe: Christian-oriented mysteries, at least one conversion, etc.
Palmer, Bernard, Danny Orlis and the Rocks That Tal, 1955.  Bernard Palmer was published through Moody Press and wrote other children's series.  The Danny Orlis series featured Danny who lived with his parents in Angle Point, Minnesota together with adopted twin siblings, Ron and Roxie.  The books are back in print and are readily available.  Danny orlis also had an advice column in the Campus Life monthly magazine, as I recall.
Ken Anderson, The Austin Boys, 1943-44. It might be the Austin Boys.  Jim & Tim Austin are twin sons of a missionary couple living on an island in the Coral Sea.  There are only 2 books about them that I am aware of:  "The Austin Boys--Marooned," and "The Austin Boys--Adrift."



C31: Christmas angels
Solved: An Angel's Touch


C32: Camping, unpleasant.  NOT High Trail!
Solved: Secret Summer 

C33: Crocodile eats lady, Sendak book?
Solved: The Romper Room Book of Finger Plays and Action Rhymes

C35: City girl gets a lesson
Solved: Araminta

C39: Christmas anthology
Solved: The Christmas Book

C41: Crispian the Scottie dog
Solved: Mister Dog

C43: Ceremony goes (grows?) awry
Solved: Speaker for the Dead 

C44: Crocodile raises duck
Solved: Sitting Ducks

C45: Civil War mystery
Solved:  The Riddle at Live Oaks 

C46: Christmas book with Ardizzone-style illustrations
Solved:  Christmas Secrets 

C47: Christmas tree star
Solved: The Santa Claus Book


C48: Cornfields
In 7th grade, we read a story contained in a text book type collection of  short stories. (May have been a Lippincott book, but not sure.) Anyway, the first story in the book was called Cornfields I beleive, but am not sure. The first line of the story was,"There was a girl at Cornfields, yes." I remember I loved the story, and would love to re-read it. I was in 7th grade in ...hmmm.. lets see...1974/5?

C48 a long shot maybe Orton, Helen FullerCloverfield Farm Stories NY: Lippincott, 1947 Omnibus of four books: Prince and Rover of Cloverfield Farm, Bobby of Cloverfield Farm, Summer at Cloverfield Farm, and Winter at Cloverfield Farm.



C49: Chinese boy slurps pond
I can't remember the name of a book I read as a child, perhaps you can help. It was a story of a little Chinese boy who had a great talent of holding a whole pond of water in his mouth.  The village people could go into the pond and gather fish and then the little boy would spit the water back in.  Then, one day the village people got selfish, trying to capture more fish than they needed, and the little boy couldn't hold the water any longer and had to spit the water back in before the people got out. I have a 6 year old son who I would like to share this story with, do you have any idea the name of this book?
Looking through your listing, I came across someone who had a similar search and you came up with the name of Five Chinese Brothers, however after investigating further, this is not the book I'm thinking of. Thank you for your time.

Just wanted to say that this book does exist, though I can't identify it yet - several years ago I saw a description of it, and remember thinking it was a knock-off of the Chinese Brothers story.
Five Chinese Brothers.  This one is already listed in your solved pages.
C49 chinese boy: There are at least two other versions of this folktale, one being Six Chinese Brothers: an Ancient Tale, retold and illustrated by Cheng Hou-Tien, published Holt 1979, 32 pages. The story is essentially the same, illustrated with scissor cuts in bright red and black. More recent is The Seven Chinese Brothers, retold by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Jean Tseng and Tseng Mou-Sien, published Scholastic 1990. "The seven brothers walk, talk, and look alike, but each has his own special power. When the third brother runs afoul of the emperor and is sentenced to be beheaded, the fourth brother, who has bones of iron, takes his place. The emperor then tries drowning and burning but each time a different brother foils his scheme." The illustrations are colourful watercolours.  So I don't think we have to be too sure that it's the Claire Huchet Bishop version ...
C49 chinese boy: the Mahy version can be ruled out. I saw a copy at a thrift shop and the story does NOT include swallowing large quantities of water. Instead the emperor is afraid of the power(s) of what he believes to be a single man, and tries to execute him in various ways. Six Chinese Brothers, by Cheng Hou-tien, is supposed to have pretty much the same story as Five Chinese Brothers but different illustrations, and is probably worth checking out.
Claire Huchet Bishop, Five Chinese Brothers.  This is DEFINITELY Five Chinese Brothers, not six, not seven.  The first brother can hold a lake in his mouth, but a village child wanders out too far to pick up fish and drowns when the brother releases the water.  The emperor orders him executed by beheading, so he tells the emperor he needs to go home to say goodbye to his family.  The second brother (who just happens to have an iron neck) is sent in his place.  When the executioner breaks his sword on the brother's neck, the emperor orders him burned.  So they swap in the brother who ca''t be burned and so on...    The stories with six or seven brothers are more about the emperor's fear of the brothers' power, and his attempts to prevent them from taking the throne.



C50: Christmas angel Katie is NOT so angelic...
Solved: The Wonderful Window


C51: Cone people
Solved: Planet of the Whistlers


C52: Chinese man and birds
Solved: One Bright Day

C55: Cabin faced west textbook
Solved: Ventures Book 4 

C56: Creepy cover
I never had this book so didn't read it, and have no idea of title, author, or what it's about, but was haunted by the cover.  It portrayed three children in a boat in a swamp at night.  One with a fishing pole had hooked a lit lantern and was drawing it out of the water.  Very scary to me as a child.  Would be a digest-sized paperback of the kind sold at supermarket checkstands between 1967 and 1969.

not that I've ever seen the cover, but there's Ghost Boat, written and illustrated by Jacqueline Jackson, published Little, Brown 1969, 148 pages. "A mysterious boat provides four children with an adventure while they are vacationing at their summer cottage."
C56 Is this a possibility?   Zapf, Marjorie. The Mystery of the Great Swamp.  Same as E1?
C56 creepy cover: after checking pictures on eBay, I have to say that unfortunately the Zapf cover doesn't match, neither does the cover of Ghost Boat, or The Button Boat.
L.M. Boston, The Children of Green Knowe, 1955, reprint.  Athough there is some discrepancy, THE CHILDREN OF THE GREEN KNOW has a dark green dust jacket with a yellow drawing of a creepy looking house. Rather than 3 children, there is an old man with an oar and a boy in the front of the boat holding up a lit lantern. It's a spooky cover!
Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove, late 1960s.  The cover description sounds to me like a Scholastic Press book I read in elementary school -- these were paperback books peddled in the California school system via a newsletter passed out in class. Can't find any record of this book in Internet searches, though there's a (Disney?) movie from the '80s with the same title and plot: some children try to hunt down a sea monster that only they have seen, and it turns out to be a canvas superstructure disguising a smuggler's boat. The lantern lights the monster's eyes, or something . . . hope that's what you're looking for! BTW the title I supplied is that of the movie. The book title was at least similar but may not be completely identical.
More clues on #C56, Creepy Cover:  It wasn't much like the hardcover illustration for "The Button Boat" and nothing at all like "Mystery of the Great Swamp" or "Children of Green Knowe."  The differences were, in those pictures the children are standing in the boat or getting into or out of it with faces turned away.  The picture I'm looking for had younger/smaller children (4 to 8 rather than 10 to 12) sitting in a small boat facing towards the lantern in the water. It was MUCH more colorful--rather than two-color with black and white, brown and green, or green and yellow, this had a lot of murky blue, swamp green, yellow glow from the lantern.  The feature which struck me most was the particular round, protruding characteristic of the children's eyes, giving them an eerily apprehensive appearance.  The style of the drawing, particularly those bug eyes, is very much like that of the prolific and popular artist Susan Perl.  Whether that provides a clue I couldn't say, as I don't know that the illustrator was Susan Perl, or that there'd be any way to confirm it, such as an official Susan Perl website.  No idea who published such books, but I'm thinking not Weekly Reader or Scholastic but some fly-by-night printer no one will have heard of.  Might I say, I *did* have a book illustrated by Susan Perl which has proven EXTREMELY rare! It was a paperback of Eugene Field's "Wynken, Blynken and Nod and other poems" from Wonder Books.  Normally, once I know the title and author of a favorite childhood book, it's been relatively easy to get copies for my sisters, but in this case my own copy is the ONLY one I have ever SEEN--that includes not only in used bookstores but on eBay or any other online search.  It was a big favorite and will go right in the glass case I've built for rare and hard-to-find titles.
Vera Cleaver, Ellen Grae, 1967.  I keep thinking that this might be Ellen Raskin's original cover for Vera Cleaver's Ellen Grae - the kids have dropped the lantern and are trying to get it back with the fishing pole.  But I can't find a copy of the book or an image on-line to check my memory!
Wylly Folke St. John, Secret of Hidden Creek, 1968, approximate.  I think this might be the book your looking for.  the older version has a cover like the one you described.



C58: Chinese with buffalo and lamp
Solved: Water-Buffalo Children and The Dragon Fish

C59: Cat care manual
Solved: Cats 

C60: Children's crusade
An interest in the Children's Crusade, A. D. 1212, led me to compile a bibliography.  I think I have 53 books listed in six languages.  They can be fiction, non-fiction, French, or German crusade.  The interesting thing is I've only ever found copies of four of these books.  Maybe I'll send you the bibliography, not so much to search, but in case you just happen across any.  With Book Search engines, I may even be able to add to it.  Okay, here's the "stumper" part of this: One title I'm pretty sure is not on my bibliography of books about the Children's Crusade, A. D. 1212, is a short story.  It was part of a longer collection, and I found it listed under the subject heading "Children's Crusade" in the card catalog of a library where I used to work.  Of course, that was 25 years ago and they've no doubt gotten rid of the card catalog and probably the book as well.  The story concerned a priest who made it to the Holy Land with some of the surviving children, and came back to confront a wealthy merchant.  The priest had information that the merchant had greatly profited through his direct involvement with selling the child crusaders into slavery, so the merchant committed suicide before the priest could reveal it.  I'd appreciate if anyone knows what this is so I can add it to my list.

Don't know the story, but this person must find a copy of Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman. Won awards in the Netherlands, and is a great story of the Children's Crusades.
The Chidren's Crusade (1975?)  Remember reading this one in my local council library (Adelaide, Australia) in the late seventies/ early eighties.  Title was definitely "The Children's Crusade" but I can't remember the author.  Used to get this one when I'd forgotten the title of "Crusade in Jeans" (heartily agree with the earlier recommendation on this one, too)!
Henry Treece (75, approximate) Back again.  Internet suggests the Author may be Henry Treece? This is definitely the book I remember, and involves the boy (and his sister? - memory escapes me) being rescued from slavery by his father's priest at the end, but wouldn't fit with the suicide part.



C62: Cookbook with cat and dog
Solved: My Learn-to-Cook Book 

C65: Chipmunks dressing as humans
I am looking for books I read as a child in the early 1950's.  The characters were chipmunks dressing and living as people.  Their home was in a marvelous, old hollowed out tree.  I went to a small country school so the books may have been old in 1950.  The text was (I think) second, third or fourth grade level as I read them myself (they were not read to me).  I have found possibilities on the internet but none have enough description to help me know if I have found the one that is in my memory.

#C65--Chipmunks dressing as humans:  It's worth having a look at The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane, by Ian Munn, illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe, Rand McNally Junior Elf Book, 1952.
C65 It doesn't seem to me as if this book quite matches, but here's more info: almost Little Goloden size; chipmunk mailman on yellow cover, putting mail in a mailbox. Inside, he makes deliveries to different animals in human clothes.
Marjorie Torrey, Three Little Chipmunks,1947.We searching forever for this book as well and my sister just recently found it and bought it - We grew up with Chuffy, Chirpy and Cheeky!!!
McElroy and Younge (American Book Company), Toby Chipmunk, 1931, copyright.  I read this book in a Wisconsin one-room schoolhouse in the late forties and then tried to find it for YEARS; I finally found one last year on ebay.  Good luck!
MCELROY, TOBY CHIPMUNK, 1937.  AN EASY READER(1ST OR 2ND GRADE) USED IN MANY RURAL SCHOOLS IN THE 1940S - TWO CHIPMUNKS, TOBY AND HIS SISTER, WHO GO TO LIVE WITH GRANDMOTHER CHIPMUNK IN HER HOME IN THE TRUNK OF A HOLLOW  TREE.  A DARLING BOOK AND HARD TO FIND.



C66: Crystal horse
Solved: The Crystal Horse

C67: Civil War-era family story
My grandmother had a book that I loved to read whenever I would visit her.  It was probably written sometime in the early 1900's.  The story was about a little girl and her family.  The father left to fight in the war, and the family was notified that he had been killed.  Then suddenly he returned, and we are told that there was an error made regarding his death notice.  This is a picture book, and it's possible that the text of the book was written as a poem.  I think the cover was a picture of the little girl watching the troops march away.  I also think there might have been a line in the book the said, "He is not gone; he is just away."  I would love to find a copy of this book as it has many memories.  Thanks for any help.

#C67--Civil War era family story:  "He is not gone, he is just away" has been used in a number of variations, most notably in a poem by Walt Whitman, who did write a lot during and about the Civil War era.  Since the poet is
so well-known, you should have no trouble in locating the poem.  Can't say the same about the book.
C67 civil war era: perhaps Nellie's Prayer by George R. Sims, illustrated by J. Willis Grey, published London & New York by Raphael Tuck 1880, unnumbered pages approx 22, with 28 monochrome illos. "The story of a little girl's prayer for her father's safe return from war." The cover shows soldiers marching with a young boy running beside them, a little girl watching and a woman weeping. However, the soldiers are in red with tall bearskins, very English and not at all American Civil War.



C68: Color lands
Solved: The Wizard of Oz 

C71: Confederate treasure mystery
Solved: The Secrets of Hidden Creek

C72: Comic strip Character named Logan
Solved: X-Man Wolverine

C73: Can't Hear Myself think
Solved: The Noisy Clock Shop

C74: Circus
Solved: The Secret of Stone House Farm 

C75: Cookbook for kids
Solved: The Kids' Kitchen Takeover 

C77: Cat story
Solved: Gypsy

C78: Crafts projects
I am looking for a book which is similar in size and format to McCall's Giant Golden Make-It Book, which features creative projects for children--everything from sock dolls,games and wooden toys to holiday decorations and costumes.  I am interested in any similar  titles which would have been published around the same general time period, probably containing color illustrations rather than photographs, and most likely hardbound.

C79: Checkerspot: Uncle Arthur?
Solved: Children's Hour with Uncle Arthur Book One


C80: Christian series twins who were pastor kids
Solved: Joy Sparton of Parsonage Hill

C81: Clown steals another clown's nose!
I have a friend that has talked about a book she had.  It was about a clown who had a nose that another clown envied and stole!  She doesn't know the name.  Can you help?

Are you sure this is a children''s book?  I read a short story recently on the same theme in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror (edited by Datlow & Windling  I think it was last year's edition).  It's a crazy story set in a town populated by clowns that does involve a missing nose (one of the main characters is embarrassed by the fact that his nose is ill-fitting).



C82: Cat pie
Solved: Cat and Dog


C83: Cat doesn't display proper feline behavior
Solved: The Three-Legged Cat 

C84: Candy store alive at night
This was an anthology published in the late 60s. The last story in the book concerned a candy store at night all the candy and pastries would come alive and have a big fight or party. I distinctly remember that the store owner lived upstairs, woke up from the noise "but she thought it was probably just a car backfiring." The book would have been softbound, about the size of a coloring book, second-grade level but with few illustrations.

Big Big Story Book. I have an anthology of childrens stories from the 1960's called Big Big Story Book.  Mine is hardcover wtih a picture of a circus on the front. Your requests sounded like the story PICNIC IN THE PANTRY, although there is no store owner or car backfiring.  This is in rhyming verse with the first verse being:  The peppermint stick and the candy bar / Sat and dreamed in the big glass jar.  We'll see the World, they cried one day.  And hand in hand they ran away.



C85:  El Cid
I recall reading a color illustration and text book (oversized) when I was a child (1975?) that had short renditions of a number of heroes from history and mythology, including the last battle of El Cid, Horatio at the Bridge in Rome, and Gwain and the Green Knight.  I hope to be able to locate this book for my daughter.  Any help is appreciated.

C85 El Cid sounds like I26 stories of heroes
C85 el cid: well, Knights and Champions, by Dorothy Heiderstadt, illustrated by George Fulton, published Nelson 1960, 191 pages, includes stories of "twelve legendary and historical heroes, including St. George, Beowulf, Roland, King Arthur, Richard Lionheart, El Cid of Spain, and Bayard the last knight. Ages 10-14.". I couldn't discover the size or confirm colour illustrations, or any other definite characters beyond Ogier the Dane - nothing certain on Gawain or Horatio.



C86:  Come Over to My House
Solved: Come Over to My House

C87:  Cully and the octopus
Solved: The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea

C88: Carter is a painter's cap
Solved: Carter is a Painter's Cat

C89: Casey
Solved: More than a Summer Love 

C90: Cave children
Solved: The Stone Age Kids Discover America
C91: Cold snap day

Solved: Grandpa's Farm
C92: Collection of poems, speeches, plays

Solved: Treasury of the Familiar 
C93: Child actress in historical role

Solved: Once in a Lifetime
C94: Catacombs

Solved: The Tombs of Atuan
C95: Christmas Story Book

Solved: The Christmas Book
C96: Carroty princess?

Solved: Princess Carroty-Top & Timothy
Solved: The Magic Key
C97: Collection of stories for girls

Solved: Girls' Adventure Stories of Long Ago 
C98: Collection with Mr Leakey story by Haldane

Solved: Golden treasury of Children's Literature: Volume 6: Unfamiliar Marvels

C99: cupola, bees, kidnapped
Solved: Babysitting is a Dangerous Job

C100: Camping trip time travel
I am also looking for a series of fantasy books about a group of kids (family) who go on a camping trip and go into the past.  They go to an island were they plan a survival type (Outward Bound, as their elderbrother went on a trip similar with out his siblings) camping trip and find a figurine. Title might be "the bronze man", there are at least three books in the series.  The children go back to the time of the Celts in one of the books.

sounds slightly like one suggested for another stumper - The Green Bronze Mirror, by Lynne Ellison, published London, Blackie 1966, 124 pages. "Karen is 15 years old, and on holiday with her family at an English seaside resort. Everything is ordinarily nice, until she finds an old bronze mirror buried in the sand and looks into it. Hearing the tramp of approaching feet, she turns to face a company of what appears to be Roman soldiers. They ARE Roman soldiers, and Karen finds herself in the Britain of almost 2000 years before her own time. Her
adventures go on from there ... romance pervades the story after Karen meets Kleon, a handsome slave boy." The author was apparently only 14 when she wrote the book.
C100 camping trip time travel: there is a short series by Meta Mayne Reid, including The McNeills at Rathcapple, published Faber 1959 "combines the family story with the magic of adventures into the past"; Sandy and the Hollow Book, published Faber 1961 "An exciting story of two children in Ireland who relive forgotten episodes from past history"; and With Angus in the Forest, published Faber 1963 "The story of a girl who went back into Irish history during the desparate times of the 10th century Danish raids, and found there an answer to her own problems." One of Elinor Lyon's books, The Golden Shore, published Hodder 1957, is about cousins John and Penelope, who jump a stream while on a picnic, and find themselves in ancient Greece, where they live for almost a year. There is also a short time-travel series by M. Pardoe, involving the MacAlister children and their tutor - Argle's Causeway, illustrated by L. Atkinson, published Routledge 1958, 244 pages "Another excursion in time granted to the MacAlister family who break through a 'thin spot' in the region of Lymington and find themselves in Norman England in the 11th century. While it is a little difficult to believe that the children's kilts enable them to pass without a great deal of commment ... the historical background is extremely thorough ..." (JB Jul/58 p.135) and Argle's Oracle, illustrated by Audrey Fawley, published Routledge 1959, 197 pages "The MacAllister children and their young schoolmaster friend Mr. Burke are forced down in the sea on a flight to Athens and almost immediately find a 'thin spot' where they break through the veil of time and begin to live in the Greece of 415 BC."
C100 camping trip: the first book in the Pardoe series is Curtain of Mist, illustrated by Leslie Atkinson, published Funk 1958, 246 pages. "Three modern children and their tutor in the Scottish Highlands step throught the 'curtain of mist' into Celtic Britain. They remember that they belong in the 20th century and realize that they have  somehow got into the wrong era. They are thrilled by their experience but frightened too, and anxious to get back home." (HB Feb/58 p.38)



C101: Complete Collection
Solved: Dean's Gift Book of Fairy Tales


C102: Children scientific experiment
Solved: The House of Stairs


C103: Children disaster aflood england
Solved: Hills End

C104: Coloured pages
Solved: The BIG Story Book 
C105: Catholic series with flood

Solved: This is Our Town

C106a: Cinderella in verse
Solved: Cinderella Retold in Verse

C106b: Children and boats
Solved: Pirates, Ships and Sailors


C107: Cave Exploration
I also remember about the same time frame reading a book about a group of kids that explored a cave.  The were trapped in the cave and had to go down the underground river to get out.  It was a great adventure and I'd love to read it to my kids now. Thanx for your help. This is a great service.

Possibly The Cave, US title Five Boys in a Cave, by Richard Church, published London 1950, New York, Day 1951, 180 pages. "John Walters was visiting his uncle and aunt when he discovered the entrance to the limestone caves near their home. At once he decided to invite four of his friends to explore with him. The effect that danger and fear have on the characters of the boys - bringing out both good and bad traits - is well depicted. For readers of twelve and over." (HB Jul/51 p.249) Not sure about an underground river, though.
another possibility is The Mystery of Mont Saint-Michel, by Michel Rouze, illustrated by Peter Spier, published NY Holt 1955 "The story of four French boys and one girl who, on a summer camping trip, decide to explore the famous abbey at Mont Saint-Michel. Eluding the guides and the regular tours they go underground by themselves and are soon lost in a network of passages and caves. The author combines vivid and realistic descriptions of the ways in which the children meet danger - how they avoid the rising tide, provide themselves with light, fires, food - with their interest in trying to find proof that there is truth in the legend that here once grew the great Forest of Cokelunde. A well-written, exciting and credible tale, translated from the French by George Libaire." (Horn Book Dec/55 p.459) Though it's not an underground river but underground tides.
C107 Have sold this so can't check inside: Wallace, Bill    Trapped  in Death Cave  cover by Don Clavette    Holiday House, 1984; cover art 1987.    Weekly Reader  Just for Boys series
Joyce Sweeney, Free Fall. 1996.  This is about 4 boys who find a cave and go exploring, but they get lost. They find an opening in the cave ceiling, but when one boy attempts to scale the wall, he falls and breaks his leg.  They finally escape by swimming underwater.  Lots of male bonding, kind of like the movie "Stand By Me" but set in modern times.
C107 cave exploration: more on the Richard Church book - "Five boys explore a Severnside cave-complex and find their way out along a subterranean river, after physical hazards and re-alignments within the group. In the sequel (Down River, 1958) they surprise crooks taking contraband down river to a waiting ship." (Growing Point Jan/75 p.2567) There's also one of the books suggested for C94 catacombs: Escape into Daylight by Geoffrey Household. "Carrie and Mike are kidnapped and imprisoned in a dark, damp dungeon beneath a ruined abbey. The only way out is through twisted passages and an underground river."
Could this be The Mystery of the Piper's Ghost by Zillah Macdonald?? Set in Nova Scotia, the story involves an old gold mine with many lengthy tunnels,- it is here that the children get lost.
By title alone how about The Singing Cave by Ellis Dillon-1960?? There was a book in the Trixie Belden series where the kids were in a cave, and there was an underground river.  Involved some kind of endangered fish called the "ghost fish."  Don't know if that's helpful.  (Trixie Belden was a character sort of like Nancy Drew  she and her brother were middle-class kids, and they had a rich friend, Honey, who lived up the road at the mansion, and Trixie had a cute boyfriend named, I think, Jim.)
Enid Blyton, The Secret of Killimooin.  possibility...
Enid Blyton, The Valley of Adventure, 1950s approximate. This third book of the Adventure series (which also includes Castle of Adventure, Ship of..., Island of..., Sea of...) has all the elements that make it difficult to stop reading in the middle: Fast-paced action, burnt old houses, caves and secret tunnels, treasure, and four children who try to outwit bad guys while trapped in a remote and lonely valley. I'm not positive, but the kids might very well have escaped from the Valley by boat down an underground river. I believe they talked about stalactites quite a bit too. The original Blyton "Adventure" books included terrific drawings by Stuart Tresilian which make the reader feel as if he or she is actually a participant in the story. They are now available as reprints in paperback with entirely different covers.

Enid Blyton, The River of Adventure, 1950?, approximate. I just checked on the Enid Blyton Society website for a detailed summary of "Valley of Adventure", and the children do not escape by boat, although they DO spend time in caves and discuss stalactites and stalagmites! The last book in the Adventure series, "River of Adventure", though, DOES have a lot of boats, caves, and an underground waterfall. Just another suggestion!



C108: Cats v Dogs Intergalactic War
Solved: Urn Burial

C109: Computers and kids
Solved: Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine
C110: Children's Map Book

Solved: Authorized Autumn Charts of the Upper Red Canoe River Country
C111: Christmas Stories -Giant golden book size

Solved: The Tall Book of Christmas

C112: crabapple girl plays field hockey
Solved: The Hockey Girls
C113: Circus Baby

Solved: Circus Baby

C114: Children's Poetry Book
Solved: The Bumper Book
C115:  Children's Book about witches

Solved: Witch Family
C116:  Child dies and enters alternate world

Solved: The Brothers Lionheart

C117:  Christmas short stories
Solved: The Christmas Book

C118:  Candy dreams
Solved: Sweet Touch
2002


C119:  Children's Bedtime Story book
Solved: Lots of Stories 
C120:  Chinese Fairy Tales

Solved: Chinese Fairy Tales 

C121: child possessed by doll
Solved: A Candle in Her Room

C122: candy striper
Solved: Nancy Plays Nurse


C123: CITY NIGHTS, CITY LIGHTS....UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN
I remember checking this book out from my school library over and over again while I was in elementary school, maybe 2nd or 3rd grade (1977-1979) I think the title was : City Nights, City Lights or Uptown, Downtown or something close to it.  I remember it took place in the city and I think the main character was a girl and she walked through the city - I also remember a storm and the girl wearing a rain jacket and having an umbrella.  Hope you can help me - Thank you!

Taro Yashima, Umbrella.  Could this one possibly be Umbrella?  Momo receives boots and an umbrella for her birthday and then has to wait and wait for it to rain. She does walk through the rain in the story, to nursery school.
Could this be the Alice and Jerry reader Day In and Day Out? It has a maroon cover with a girl in summer shorts and light top and an umbrella in rain splashing around in puddles. Like  most reders it consists of many different stories unrelated to one another. The cover and the Title somewhat matched your description!! (You can often find this reader on auction sites with photographs.)
C123 city lights: perhaps this one is too old, but Paris in the Rain With Jean and Jacqueline, written and illustrated by Thea Bergere, published NY McGraw 1963, features a boy and girl with a big black umbrella in city scenes. "Her full-page illustration, using blue, grey, white and just a little red tone. The effect is really pleasing to the eye and consistent with the Parisian tour mood!"
Ludwig Bemelman, Madeline.  The discription scene is very reminisent of a part in Ludwig Bemelman's MADELINE. The copy I had was reprinted by Puffin Books in 1967. I don't know if this is what you are looking for, there is a part where Madeline is exploring Paris in the rain, or perhaps she was lost from the group. This is the first thing I though of.  I hope it
helped!  Afterthought::  I should have said....It could Be or may have been ONE of the many Madeline stories. The First or Original story was Madeline in the hospital had her appendix out I believe. But I recall one where she was lost or exploring Paris in the rain.
Seignobosc, Francoise, Jeanne-Marie in Gay Paris. NY Scribner 1956.  Again, not an exact match. "Jeanne-Marie in her red kerchief, with umbrella and suitcase to match, sets off by herself to see Paris in the springtime. It is a children's Paris that she sees: the puppet show, the merry-go-round, the gay stalls along the Seine where she can choose presents for her friends Jean-Pierre and Patapon." (Horn Book Jun/56 p.183)
Irma Simonton Black (editor), Uptown Downtown.  Uptown Downtown is the title of one of the Bank Street Unit Readers, which was a basal reader series featuring multiracial kids living in urban areas. It is out of print. Published by MacMillan in
1965. Edited by Irma Simonton Black. Illustrated by Ron Becker, Robert Quackenbush, and others. Unfortunately, I don't remember if there is a story about a girl in a rain storm.



C124: Christmas Anthology
Solved: The Santa Claus Book


C125: Christmas dolls anthology
Solved: Santa's Footprints

C126: Cow wants to go to moon
Solved: A Rocket for a Cow
C127: coming of age girls book

Solved: The Unchosen 
C128: chain recapitulates mankind's history

an ancient man picks up a chain on a deserted beach and we follow its progress throughout history until it ends up in a case in a museum, wondered at by a modern man. the book came out around 1942.

I do not know  if the device of the chain is used in the book but a very popular history of the world was  Henrik van(von)Loon's History of Mankind--the 1922 winner of the Newbery Award.
Not a lot of help, I'm afraid, but this is NOT the Van Loon - I've just checked my copy, nor is it his Ancient Man - I looked at my copy of that, too!
Gregg, Pauline, The Chain of History, 1958.
the book i am looking for is fictional, so it wouldn't be a history by van loon nor *the chain of history* (1958), which i was able to look at. but i do appreciate the suggestions.  my mother is quite old and this is the one book she keeps talking about. she read it around 1941 so it had to have been published earlier than that. i have already checked out (all) the several fictional works at the library of congress that have "chain" in the title. i have also searched OCLC.
This is a selection - probably a short story - in a high school literature anthology.  I remember it very clearly.  Check out some textbook anthologies.
I looked through the high school literature anthologies in the Library of Congress from the 20s and 30s without finding the story. More specific information would help.



C129: Car crash ghosts
Solved:  Ghosts of Departure Point 

C130: Cooking macaroni for the king with lots of pots
Solved: Strega Nona 

C131: Childrens Bedtime Stories
I remember it being a large hardback book. The illustrations were in black and white but the cover was in color, with a blonde girl/boy on the front. I remember something about a "crooked sixpence?" I also remember a story about a cat named Spot that an old woman would yell at and say, "scat, scat, you old street cat! Scat, scat and never come back!" There was also a story about a pig, a woman, and a style. The woman couldn't get her pig over the style so she asked different animals, things, etc. to help her. One line is, "fire won't burn stick, stick don't beat dog, dog won't bite pig, piggy won't go over the stile and I shan't get home tonight." If you have any information on this book, please let me know. My family has been searching for years! If anyone has a copy they want to sell, even better! Thanks you!

Betty O'Connor, editor, Better Homes and Gardens Storybook, 1950.  The story about the little old lady whose pig won't go over the stile can be found in the Better Homes and Gardens Storybook from 1950, although I don't think any of the other stories described in the stumper are included in this anthology.
w/ pictures by Blanche Fisher Wright, The Real Mother Goose, 1992.  The Crooked Sixpence is in this book (very beautifully illustrated).  It goes like this: There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile/ He found a crooked sixpence beside a crooked stile/He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse/And they all lived together in a little crooked house.  This is definitely a reprint of The Real Mother Goose, because I had another copy of it nearly 20 years before Barnes & Noble, Inc published this 1992 copy by arrangement with Checkerboard Press, Inc.   Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the other two stories described.
Jessie Willcox Smith, A Child's Book of Stories.  See A116 ~ The contributor who suggested A Child's Book of Stories by Jessie Wilcox Smith seems to have a book similar to mine and their book has "The Old Woman and Her Pig,"  which sounds like it could be the third story described here.
I can identify one of your stories. "Scat, scat! You old street cat!" comes from a story by Lucy Sprague Mitchell called- "How Spot Found a Home". Unfortunately "Crooked Sixpence" is not in my book but this info may further the hunt for your treasured book! Good Luck!
http://www.authorama.com/english-fairy-tales-6.html



C132:  Chicken loses toes, is given boots
Solved: Along Came a Dog 
C133: Cannibal town and other scary stories

Solved: Children of Noah


C134: Christmas tree top cut off mouse
Solved: Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree

C135: Curse of the MacGregor's Mansion
Solved: The Ghosts of Austwick Manor 

C136: Cashmere sweater
Solved: Fifteen 

C137: Child catches the moon in birdcage
This is a book that I read as a child in the early 50's.  It was about a little boy who saw the moon out of his bed at night and wanted it to stay, but it always went away.  He went around and asked people in his neighborhood how to catch the moon, and I believe they didn't know, but they gave him presents.  Finally someone gives him a birdcage, and he sees the moon in the cage every night before he goes to be and is satisfied.

James Thurber, Many Moons.  This is a pretty unlikely match, but it does have some things in common. It's about a princess who wants the moon, and everyone the king asks explains why this is impossible, until the the court jester comes up with a solution.
Jan B. Balet, Amos and the Moon, 1948. A wonderful book! Balet's great illustrations show an old New York's different immigrant shopkeepers' windows in colorful detail. It is the Chinese laundryman who gives Amos the birdcagto hold the moon's reflection.



C138: Christmas Book, 1940s or 1950s
Solved: The Santa Claus Book


C139: Children Walk from FL to GA
Solved:  Long Way to Go 
C140: California girl hates raincoat

Solved: The Luckiest Girl 
C141: Clock adventures with Punch

Solved:  The Sun, Moon, and Stars Clock 

C142: Colonial Girl Drinks Nanny Tea
Solved: The Day Must Dawn


C143: Cat named Asher Banipul
Solved:  The Wonderful World of Aunt Tuddy 

C144:  connie and the curious candle
Solved:  Stories for Bedtime 
C145: choirboys adventures, mysteries.  England.

Solved: The Grange at High Force

C146: Christmas Cookies Come Alive on Christmas Eve to Help Decorate Tree, Finish Dollhouse, and Assemble Bike
My wife has been searching for a particular childrens book, however she does not remember the title, author, or publisher.  The basic plot involves Christmas cookies that are left out on Christmas Eve and come alive to help decorate the Christmas tree, finish a dollhouse, and assemble a bicycle. We are expecting our own little girl in the next few weeks and she would love to have this book to read to her daughter at Christmas.

Bethany Roberts, Cookie Angel, 2007. I don't know if this is too recent but my children really enjoyed this story of the Christmas angel cookie that comes to life on Christmas Eve and helps decorate the tree, etc.
Gingerbears Christmas. Published by Current in 1983??


C147:  Cowboy Poem "A Friend",  Presidential-sounding author
Solved: Ode to a Friend
2003


C148: Caresse LeClair book stumper
Legend of Caresse LeClair.  Book was set in New Orleans current day.  It was written about 25-30 years ago.  People come to visit a prominent family and are recounted the legend of Caresse LeClair, a granddaughter of Marie Laveau (a voodoo priestess) who was a quadroon that was bought at a quadroon ball by a man in the family many years earlier.  A story is recounted how she was killed in a fire.  Some family members and guests go by pirogue to a voodoo ceremony.  One woman brings traditional offerings to the voodoo gods.  The voodoo priestess hates the woman who she feels is related to the woman who caused Caresse's death and plans revenge thru the voodoo ceremony.  The
ceremony also has an effect on the other guests and family attending.  At some point those people unknowingly start acting out the events that led to the death of Caresse.  Very mysterious.  I can't remember the author and have searched everywhere. Please help.

C138 I checked google for Caresse... and got nothing. When I tried Marie Laveu, there were tons.  Perhaps this is of possible interst to customer:  D'Argent, Jacques.  Voodoo.   Sherbourne Press, c1970.
Stern, Steven L., Hex. NY Simon & Schuster 1989.  This may be too late, but the blurb says "In the blackest night the voodoo queen strikes with magic, terror and death!" Which sounds promising. 


C149:  Children's book called "Charles"
Solved: Charles



C150:  chinese boy with long name
Solved: Tikki Tikki Tembo


C151: Children crippled in traffic accidents
book about a town for children crippled in traffic accidents. read in the late 50's or early 60's but from 30's or 40's. fiction, not unpleasant.

C152: Childs book about a Zebra named Stripy (or Stripie)
Solved: Stripey, a Little Zebra


C153:  Cakeville Cakes
Solved: Our Story Book


C154: Cowboy Bob
Solved: Grandpa's Farm


C155: clipper ships; East India Company
This is a book about a family living in Boston ( I think) that owned a shipping company at the end of the days of clipper ship importing for India and the East Indies.  All I remember is that there was a son who was much older than his younger sister.  He went on the trips and once he brought back a miniature croquet set for his sister.  I think the book might have been a mystery.

Might be worth checking some of Leonard Wibberly's (Mouse That Roared) historical fiction- like his Treegate series.
Jerry West (pseudonym), The Happy Hollisters and the Old Clipper Ship.  This came to mind because the Happy Hollisters books are mysteries (in the same sense that the Bobbsey Twins books are mysteries!) and it's only time I've ever seen "clipper ship" in a book's title.
Before 1950, approximate.  So glad to see this request -- I have been looking for this same book for ages!  I read it in 1956, and it was not new then.  The girl in the book is quite sickly, and she worships her big brother, the captain of the clipper ship.  The title might be the name of the ship . . .  but I remain stumped!  Good luck!
Chastain, Madye Lee, Dark Treasure(1954)  Found it!  I too have been looking for this book forever! It's New York, not Boston, and Cousin Andy, not Lissa's brother -- but he definitely brings her the mini-croquet set, and it is a mystery.  How lovely to finally own this favorite book of my childhood!



C156: Carillon chapter book with line drawings
Solved: The Mysterious Disapparance of Leon (I mean Noel)


C157:  "ComputerLand" super computer store going backrupt
Solved: Once Upon a Time in ComputerLand


C158:  Curley Haired Hen
Solved: The Curly Haired Hen


C159: Cat Story
Solved: The Ghost of Opalina or Nine Lives


C160: Crooked Man
Solved:  The Tall Book of Make-Believe


C161: Claude
Young children's book (or story) from mid- to late nineteen fifties, about "Claude, the mouse with the kinky tail".

C162: casket-sword-mystery
Solved: The Caket and the Sword


C163: civilization organizes again after virus
Solved: Earth Abides


C164: castle-headed boy
This book features a castle-headed boy with smaller people living on/in the castle which is his head.  Beautiful artwork.  No clue as to title or author.  Thanks for any help with this.

C164  Ruth Plumly Thompson, Kabumpo in Oz, 1922.  A longshot, but there is an incident in this book in which the Nome
King grows to a tremendous size and makes off with Ozma's palace on his head.  The illustrations are by John R. Neill.
Jane Langton, The Swing in the Summerhouse 1967.  Again, a bit of a longshot, but in "The Swing in the Summerhouse" there is a chapter called "The Man Castle" where Eddy finds himself inside his body as if inside a castle and must go up toward his head and awaken his senses.
David Weisner, Free Fall, 1988.  Was it a wordless picture book? Boy falls asleep reading and dreams of flying, almost
MCEscher-esque bizarre juxtapositions and connections. Brilliant illustrator also won Caldecott not too many years back for TUESDAY (also wordless) Anyway, the castle part tugs at me...



C165: Changeling stolen by fairies for housework
Solved: Red Feather


C166: Country boy in "Dick and Jane" moves to city and wins baseball game
I think it was a story in one of the "Dick and Jane" readers from the 1950's (at least, that's when we read them!). It's about a boy from the country who moves to the city and is ridiculed by the other kids for being a country bumpkin. Then one day he wins the big baseball game and he's a hero. Hope this rings a bell with someone! Thanks for your help.

C167: Carolee Carouthers, had no sisters or brothers
Solved: The Tale of Corally Crothers


C168: Cinderella in verse
Solved:  Cinderella Retold in Verse


C169: Car (Lazy) Nearly Scrapped
I recall a book about a car that was very slow and lazy (I think they kept painting it different colors, giving it different jobs; it might have been a taxi at one point, painted yellow, obviously.)  Finally they're going to scrap it, and there's a creepy illustration at the auto graveyard, all the cars with their engines exposed and rusting, and the little car freaks out so much that when given one last chance to run it RUNS!  And they paint it red and it goes to work for the fire department.

Leila Berg, Fire Engine by Mistake.  I think it might be this, or Berg's other book, The Little Car.
The Little Car (Puffin, 1974):  "Eleven brief episodes record the adventures of the Little Car and the Driver who understands every noise it makes."



C170: Christmas tree top
Solved: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree


C171: Catholic School Reader
Solved: Faith and Freedom Readers


C172: carillon, hidden valley
Solved: The Whisper of Glocken


C173: Children in another realm
Solved: The Tower of Geburah


C174: Child's book on art
Solved: Famous Paintings: An Introduction to Art for Young People


C175: Crocodiles drawn to look like Russian People
1920s or 1930s.  A picture book, black and white drawings.  Pictures I remember are that the crocodile men wear spats, the women wear kerchiefs, there is a picture of them flying down to the Nile River (on a carpet?) ,  and a picture of them with a samovar.  That's all I remember..

Kornei Chukovsky, Crocodile



C176: Cinderella/Rumplestilskin
I am looking for a picture book published probably in the years 1950-1954. It was the stories of Cinderella and Rumplestilskin together in one book. I remember it beig a large (8 1/2"X11") vertical book. It was not a thick book. I am sorry that I don't remembber the exact title.  In the Cinderella story I remember the illustrations in that there were 3 balls that she attend on subsequent nights. Each night Cinderella wore a gown more beautiful than the last, one of which was silvery like the moon and another was gold like the sun.  It was probably a mass market book and may have been an import. I have searcehd the net myself and had no luck, so for 2 bucks I'll let you give it a try.  I am a children's book author/illustrator myself, and this book was very meaningful to me as a child.   I hope you have better luck than I have.

I can't tell you what edition to look for, or even precisely which fairy tale to look for (there are a number which employ the three dresses, among them being "Donkeyskin" or the Grimm version of "Allerleirauh (the Many Furred Creature)" but I can tell you you're not going to figure it out looking under Cinderella.  I'd widen your base to look at some fairy tale anthologies if I were you.
This book does not match in all particulars BUT.. Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck, matches the other details so well! The three balls, the three gorgeous gowns (superior illustrations with unusual textures by Anita Lobel) Great version of Cinderella!! I just had  to toss that out there.
The description of the three gowns of Cinderella sounds like The Fairy Tale Book by Adrienne Segur (1958) under the Solved items.  [Actually, that's illustrated by Segur; adapted and compiled by Marie Ponsot.  See also the Back in Print page.]
I am thinking of a series of book I had as a child. there were about 15 of them and every book had 2 fairy tales in them, I
remember they were tall and did not fit in my lap. The pictures were wonderful and I remember that Cinderella had 3 dresses because that was the only time I had seen that version of it.One as bright as the moon, one as golden as the sun and I believe the first one was red.They were from Mc Calls. I believe the one with Cinderella had a pink cover. The other stories were just as wonderful. Bluebeard, 5 Peas in a Pod,Rapuzel,Hansel and Gretel etc.



C177: Cardboard box played with until it falls apart
Solved:  Christina Katerina and the Box


C178: Children's Poetry Book
I am looking for a children's poetry book.  It includes the poem 'Raggedy Man' and the poem 'New Shoes'.  It has poems by Hilaire Belloc and Robert Louis Stevenson.  There are illustrations for many but not all of the poems.  Some of the illustrations are of bugs that look a bit like Paul Klee artwork.  I think the illustrations are not all by the same person.  The Owl and the Pussycat is included and may be on the cover as a rather ornate illustration.  The book is approximately 81/2 by 11".  It was read to me as a child in the 1960s.

Be sure you look at the books on the Most Requested Antholgies page to see if any look familiar.
#C178--Children's Poetry Book:  Could be one of the poetry volumes of Childcraft, 1954 edition with orange and blue cover, reprinted 1961 with red and white cover.
Jane Werner (ed.), The Big Golden Book of  Poetry, 1965.  If "New Shoes" is actually "Choosing Shoes" ( About buying new shoes) then this book fits in all particulars except Paul Klee artwork-but then again I am not exactly sure what Paul Klee bugs look like! Check out this book at this site!



C179: Clockmaker
Solved: The Cuckoo Clock


C180: Chester  / Aunt Maude / cat /
Solved: That's Not Chester!


C181: Civil War Reenactor
Solved: Meet John Trow


C182: champion diver
It was about a high school diving team. It was the diving championship. the one guy started playing this wierd word game with the other guy just to keep him relaxed. It was something like "you left a little dirt on the whiffle (or some madeup word) I'll go clean it up for you. He didn't realize that by playing this game and not focusing on his own performance, he outperformed everyone and won the championship.

Chris Crutcher, Stotan!, '90's.  This is a YA novel about a swim team. Don't remember anything about the word game...
This has to be much older than the 90s.  I remember reading this story in either elementary school or junior high and I graduated from high school over (Gasp!) 30 years ago.  For some reason, I associate the story with the author of Follow My Leader.  Did he write for textbooks or school readers?
HRL: Probably just means the book was available through Scholastic Book Services, as I know Follow My Leader was.
Eric Berger (editor), For Boys Only, Scholastic 1964.  Any chance this was a short story and not a novel? This Scholastic anthology is from the right time and includes a story called High Diver, by John Ashworth. Stories include - The Adventure at the Toll Bridge by Howard Pease, A Good Clean-Cut American Boy by Harlan Ware, First Command by Eugene Burdick, The Slip-Over Sweater by Jesse Stuart, Caesar's Wife's Ear by Phyllis Bottome, Sally by Isaac Asimov, Open Sesame by Ray Harris, The Torn Invititation by Norman Katkov, High Diver by John Ashworth, As the Eagle Kills by Hal G. Evarts, Alone in Shark Waters by John Kruse, and the Rookie Pitcher by John McClellen.
Franklin M. Reck, The Diving Fool  RECK, FRANKLIN M.  The Diving Fool, (Short Story) (in) The American Boy Anthology, ed. Franklin M. Reck, Thomas Y. New York: Crowell Company 1951  Also found in:  The Arrow Book of Sports Stories and in several reading/literature textbooks of the 60's and 70's
Franklin Reck, The Diving Fool. Just to confirm that yes, this has got to be the short story ?The Diving Fool?! The new diving team member who?s absolutely a natural (and has great technique too) lets nerves derail his performance when the pressure?s on. The first-person narrator, a generous-spirited old team member who recruited him (i.e., doesn?t mind if this new guy is better, if it helps the team ? in fact is simply happy to watch such a brilliant performer) jollies him along and gets him ?in the zone?, as we?d say nowadays, in a crucial swim meet (the fate of the powers-that-be granting the money for a new pool, etc. etc... the pressure was indeed on). The new guy had bombed somewhat in his first meet a few weeks earlier. The nice old team member (whom the coach keeps saying is good, but not performing up to his full potential) does indeed psych his new fellow team member up (again, terminology not used back then!) by playing the ?iggle? game they?d goofed around with in practices, as described by the OP. (It was decades later that I realized they were modifying the word ?eagle?!) Anyway, what worked for the scared new kid worked for the other! By gosh if the old kid wasn?t the one who came in first, and the new kid second, so they won handily. I even remember exactly the closing dialogue: The old kid says bewilderedly, stunned at his own success: ?I... I did what you wanted, Coach. I... I talked him into it...?  The coach interrupted him: ?You talked yourself into it, you diving fool!? (Wish all of us ever experiencing stage fright always had such a compatriot to talk us into the right frame of mind! In fact... hmmm... really getting too long-winded here -- feel free to edit!! -- I was reminded once again of this story yesterday when someone was kind enough to call me a "singing fool". My sight-reading abilities, for instance, are really, really good. Sometimes I let nerves get in the way of the production of beautiful vocal tone, however! If I get "in the zone" though, I'\''m all right. I want a companion on hand at all times like the old team member in this story!)



C183: camel demanding service from Bertram
Solved: Bertram and the Camel


C184: Colonial History
Solved: Little Maid series


C185: Children's song book from 1950s
Solved: My Picture Book of Songs


C186: Colorful creatures along a river
Solved: Barbapappa's Ark


C187: Cat
Solved:  The Cat Club, or, the Life and Times of Jenny Linksy


C188: circus dog can get bigger and smaller
Solved: Little Peewee, or, Now Open the Box


C189: Conformity mistaken for equality - everyone must be the same
Solved: Harrison Burgeron


C190: catholic children's reader
Catholic reader, 1960s,  focused on a family, featuring twins, one of whom was named Claire.  One of the children tried to wash their shirt using a bluing agent, and the shirt turned blue.  There were stories of saints and legends as well, including a story about a saintly visitor who magically kept the flour bin full during the winter.

C191: Children's Stories (Includes Snip The Tailor)
Searching for book of children's stories/fairy tales my parents gave me about 1956??  About 6" x 9" and 1" thick.  Whitish cover with some illustrations, hardbound. The only story I clearly remember is "Snip The Tailor" (although that might not be the exact title).  Great sentimental value; thanks for anyone's help!! Note: Fairy Tales by Katharine Gibson (1950) listed in this site's "anthologies" which includes "The Brave Little Tailor" might be it but I've got no way to confirm.

I couldn't find Snip the Tailor as part of an anthology, but I did find it as an individual book.  It's by Miriam Blanton Huber (Nisbet, 1952).  And I found Snip the Tailor: a play for boys by Vincent Bedford (S. French, Ltd. 1930).  Sorry, don't think this is what you're looking for.
I found a reference to Snip the Tailor in Index To Fairy Tales, Myths, and Legends - 2nd Supplement, but I don't think it's the book you're looking for since it appears to be a school reader.  You can find the story in After The Sun Sets (Miriam Blanton Huber, F.S. Salisbury, & Mabel O'Donnell = ed. and comp., c1938, Row, Peterson & Co.)  Note: Wonder-story books reading foundation series.
Saw "Snip the Tailor" in a children's reader today- After the Sun Sets- ( A Wonder Story Book) I believe these books were supplementary readers to go along with The Alice and Jerry Readers. A good number of other tales were included in the reader.



C192: cougar, ill girl, christmas play
Solved: The Tuckers: The Cottage Holiday


C193: children's book families and animal
Solved: Everyday Story Book


C194: children, old victorian house and elderly people and ginseng
Solved: Gone-Away Lake


C195:  Children's adventure series/cockatoo named Kiki
Solved: Adventure series


C196: Child digs through back yard to China
I am doing this search for a friend.  All she told me was what I included in the subject line... a child digs through his back yard and ends up in China.  Thanks!

Byrd Baylor, The Chinese Bug, 1968.  Could this be it?  "Using a broken hoe and an old kitchen spoon, a little boy who lives in the city is determined to dig his way to China in the small dirt plot behind the neighborhood grocery store. He decided he might even learn to speak Chinese, at least a few useful words like CHOCOLATE MILK and PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY. -- in the very center of the hole was a small glistening bug -- fluttering and bright.". Illustrated by Beatrice Darwin.
C196 Could this be the same as D114 Lifton's Taka-Chan, the dog that digs thru?
Wilbur, Richard, Digging for China, 1970.  This picture book poem has illustrations by William Pene du Bois.  Doubleday, 1970.  I also vaguely remember a very small picture book about digging to China with illustrations (and possibly the writing as well) by Joan Walsh Anglund.  Hope this helps. 



C197: Cave family
Solved: The Cave Twins


C198: Chicago Fire
Solved: Young and Fair


C199: CAN'T REMEMBER TITLE OF MYSTERY WITH FEMALE KILLER
Solved: Until Proven Guilty


C200: Castle reappears every 100 years
Solved: Shadow Castle


C201: Corncob doll
Solved: Miss Hickory


C202: carpenter, saw, "zing, zing, zing"
The Little Carpenter?  Lenski?  1930s?  My Dad was born in 1932.  He fondly remembers his favourite book about a little carpenter and the line something like "zing zing zing went the saw."  I have searched and inquired w/o success.

A little earlier than the 1930's, but...The Little Carpenter by ?? (Samuel Raynor, 1849).  Series: New and true books for the young, no. 4.  Also anthologized in New And True Stories For Children: with 100 pictures.



C203: Colonial Georgetown Time Travellers
Two children (possibly brother and sister) about 8-10 years old, who live in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC (probably in the late 1940s or early 1950s) wander into a shop in a Colonial-era building "under" the (newly constructed or under construction) Whitehurst Freeway and find themselves in Colonial Georgetown about the time of or during the Revolutionary War.  The story concerns their efforts to adjust to life in that earlier century and to get back to their own time.  At the time I read this book, in the mid- to late-1950s, I lived in antoher part of Washington DC...

C204: caveman kids sewn into fur-skins
Solved: The Cave Twins


C205: Chinese folk story collection
Chinese Folk Tales or Anthology of Chinese Folk Tales ??, 1960s.  I'm looking for a collection of 13 or 14 Chinese folk tales or stories.  I have sketchy memories of one story involving and old woman who takes in a freezing bird of some kind and the bird becomes a beautiful young girl who stays and is told she is the old woman's daughter.  Another story involves an old man and woman and their young grandson.  When asked by the boy what they are most afraid of, they discuss many scary things, but by far the thing they fear the most is a "leak".  The grandson assumes a "leak" is a horrible monster, but is actually a leak in the roof that would damage their home.  The cover was brown or gold and it was illustrated with simple pen and ink drawings.  Any help with this one would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a link for Chinese Folk Tales.
I checked the links suggested for Chinese Fairy tales/folktales.  None of the books listed were the book I am looking for.  I may have purchased it through a school book fair??  I'm just not sure.  Please keep looking, thank you.
Not a solution, but could it be an anthology of Japanese fairy tales, rather than Chinese?  The first story described sounds like the Japanese story The Crane Maiden, about an old woman who takes in a crane during a winter storm, the bird turns into a beautiful girl, and the woman raises her as her daughter.
This is definitely an anthology of Japanese folk tales that you are looking for, not Chinese. The first story is The Crane Maiden, by Miyoko Mitsutani.  The second story is the basis for The Terrible Eek, retold by Patricia Compton. (On a rainy night, a man tells his  son that the things he most fears are a thief, a wolf, and a "terrible leak." He is overheard by both a thief who happens to be on the roof and a nearby wolf. The thief falls onto the wolf and each believes the other to be the "terrible eek." Terrified, they bolt and frighten several other animals with their misheard story about the "terrible eek," leaving the family safe in their home.) The date for Compton's retelling (1991) is too late for the anthology that you are looking for, but it sounds like basically the same story.


C206: Christopher Chameleon
I have been going CRAZY trying to find a book which contains a story/rhyme about Christopher Chameleon. As I recal it went something like "Christopher Chameleon was a quite contrary chap...". I probably read it in a First Grade reader in 1969/70. Please, please help me save my sanity.

C207: Cinderella Fatfoot
The book I am looking for I bought in London, either at Harrods or Hatchers in the 80's, and the title was something like ...."How England Won the War", or How Great Britain Won the Great War" or "How We Won the Big War."   It was about a Kangaroo named "Cinderella Fatfoot."  I remember that her part in helping win the war had something to do with her stomping her big foot on some seasaw type thing that propelled someone out of the fort or prison or forest ????????  I must tell you that in later part of the 90's I went around to many bookstores in London and described this book, and no one had a clue as to what I was talking about!!  Good Luck and thank you.

William Pène Du Bois, The forbidden forest, 1978.  A lot of the details are different than the book described, but it's the only thing that came up in my database search of kangaroos and wars!  "There were three heroes on the British cruiser Barkham when it docked in Syndey, Australia. They were known throughout the world as the "Stoppers of the Great War". They are Buckingham bulldog dog, Spider Max (a man), and the mysterious Lady Adelaide Kangaroo.  Lady Adelaide, a boxing kangaroo, helps to defeat the German army, thus becoming a heroine of the Great War."



C208: Child giant isn't growing and rescues village from monster
Solved: Dooly and the Snortsnoot


C209: children paper dolls author P-W
Solved: The Jennifer Wish


C210: Cave man banished from tribe
Solved: Fire Hunter


C211: Childern's Projects
A book on fairly improbable boy's engneering projects was published in the 20's or 30's. It was an oversized book and about two inches thick. A couple of the projects inside were, 1. how to build an army tank with working treads etc. the kid would sit inside and was able to move it on its treads. 2. An overhead cable car where a child would sit in a car suspended from a horizonal rope and move the cable car with a hand crank. Most of the projects were well beyound a boy's skills but they sure looked neat. The title may have had something to do with "a boy's projects" or "projects for boys" orsome such. My copy was destoyed by a flood and I would love to find another copy.

Alfred P. Morgan, Boys' Book of Science and Construction. Another possibility is N.B. Stout: Boys' Book of Mechanical Models, 1921.
H.H. Windsor, editor, The Boy Mechanic Book 3, 1919.  This is a series of books (I have 1, 2, & 3 - may be more printed) published by Popular Mechanics Press (Chicago).  They consist of articles with diagrams for building all kinds of things.  Book 3 is subtitled "800 Things For Boys To Do" and has instructions for an aerial cableway, miniature tank, motor car, parcel delivery bicycle, etc. Hope this helps - just discovered your wonderful site tonight!



C212: Collection of Stories
Solved: Better Homes and Gardens Story Book


C213: Cookbook, International Vegetarian
Solved: Golden Temple Vegetarian Cookbook


C214: crocodile, poss. legendary bird
children's; abt.40 years old; crocodile, poss. legendary bird; pictures striking geometric, jewel-like colors

Tomie de Paola, Bill and Pete. A possibility. Picture books about a crocodile and his bird friend who claims to be his
'toothbrush'.
C214 I thought it might be this, but when I look at it, it doesn't seem to have the geometrical artwork that I think I have seen on a smaller book around here. This is picture-book size, with bold illustrations throughout. Kissin, Rita.  Zic-Zac, the crocodile bird; a good neighbor story from the Nile.  Messner, 1942, Junior Literary Guild.  Another title I find on the Net is: Pickford, Susan B.  Zic-Zac and the Crocodile



C215: Cheetah time travels and protects young King Tut
Solved: Tomorrow's Sphinx


C216: Crippled Girl Skates on New Years to Pirate Ship
This takes place in a European Village - 1700's?  A crippled girl wishes she could join the village New Year's Eve festivities where everyone wears costumes and skates on the canals.  Some carry poles with branches of lanterns.  She gets her wish along with a beautiful green velvet skating outfit and a white muff that shholds to her cheek to hide her identity from her friends.  She skates farther and farther out, and comes upon an icebound pirate ship.  She oards the ship and meets the pirate - Jean de Brulot (if I can remember this why can't I recall the title?!) The pirate shows her rooms full of treasures - pearls, jewels and gold.  In one room a pair of twins sleep with a crystal ball on their shoulders.  He breathes on them and they wake and show pictures in the crystal ball.  She departs and asks if she can come again next year.  de Brulot tells her she must choose -- she can either walk again -- or only skate once a year, and return each New Year's Eve.  She chooses to walk, and does, but come New Year's she skates out to where the ship was to find that it is of course - not there.  The ice begins cracking under her skates and she hurries home. I loved the delicious dilemma of having to choose between ordinary all the time,  or very special only once.  I have since experienced such choices, and each time i do, it reminds me of this book. Who knows? perhaps I am destined to read this book only once! Thanks for your interest and assistance!

Levy, Madeleine, The Enchanted Eve, Howell Soskin, 1945. This has got to be it! Plot description: "A story about a little girl living near Elewyt, Belgium in what looks to be the late 18th century whose legs have been crippled by an illness. She is the daughter of a painter and often goes with him while he paints watching the nature around her. She is beautiful in spirit and everyone loves her. One day a musician comes to entertain the children. After he finishes he talks to her and finds she cannot walk. He tells her he is actually a magician and can grant her 1 day a year to walk. She chooses St Sylvain's Eve as it is a day for an ice-skating carnaval and she would love to skate. The rest of the story is about what amazing sight she sees in a great sailing ship and the that miracle happens to her after St. Sylvains Eve and what she gives up to be able to walk again."


C217: China story
Solved: The Five Chinese Brothers


C218: cat disguises as dog
This is a children's book and involves a cat (whose name may be Alex) who disguises himself as a dog to fit into his new neighborhood.  That's all I know about it. I'll look for it on your listings as, "cat disguises as dog,"

Griffith, Helen, Alex and the Cat, 1982.  Just a possibility - but Alex (the dog) thinks that being a cat is preferable to being a dog.  The life of a cat does not require as much as that which is expected of a dog.



C219: Children's book of how stories
Solved: Folk Tales Children Love


C220: Chicken chased by Wolf
Solved: Rosie's Walk


C221: Callahan Girls - Sisters, one named Peggy
Solved: The Callahan Girls


C222: Christina and the Fairies
Solved: Christine's Fairy Friends


C223: Caterpillar tractor
I was delighted to hear the report this morning on NPR about Bookstumpers.  I  have been looking for a book that I read in grade school in about 1950.  Yes,  I am now 65, but have never forgotten that story, though the title eludes me.  The story is about an adolescent and his somewhat older friend who find a Caterpillar D-2 crawler tractor nearly submerged and abandoned in a mountain lake.  They get it out, repair it, find a used Traxcavator attachment, build a trailer, beef up a clunker old car by installing a second transmission for added pulling power, and then the young man uses the equipment to make money for his college education.  I was fascinated by the marvelous ingenuity of those men, and how they were able to resurrect old stuff that many now would consider merely junk.  I thought the title was "Caterpillar", but have checked that out at several libraries with no results, so the title must be different.  Can you or your readers help me find this book?  I have told my children the story many times, but would love to be able to read it to my grandchildren.  Thank You!

Meader, Stephen, Bulldozer, 1951.  I think this is it. I remember the part where the hero(es?) got hold of the bulldozer attachment for the tractor.
Meader, Stephen, Bulldozer, 1951, copyright.  It is definitely Meader's Bulldozer. I am a librarian in New Jersey and we have a collection of Meader books.



C224: Classroom tied with string
The book was a single-author collection of adventures of a boy in small-town U.S.  I read it in the mid- to late 70s.  The one episode I can recall involved the boy and his friends tying everyone and everything in their classroom into a giant web of string. I believe the teacher came back and told them they would have the time off or outside, but now had to get out of their predicament with the time instead.  (I know the description sounds like Homer Price, but it isn't -- or at least it's not in either _Homer Price_ or _Centerburg Tales_.)

Merritt Parmalee Allen, Mudhen.  It is a long shot, but it is the only book of boy stories featuring one character that I know.  The Mudhen played a lot of tricks, too.
Robert Newton Peck, Soup series.  Just a possibility - I can't identify the episode, but I've only read one or two of the books.
Could this be an episode in one of Robert Newton Peck's Soup books?  I know there's a chapter in Soup where he ties people up with rope, including his Aunt Carrie, which earns him a thrashing.  The episode described sounds like something Soup would do.
Jamie Gilson, 13 Ways to Sink a Sub. I seem to remember the incident with string occurring in this book, where 4th-grader Hobie Hanson and his friends try to make their substitute teacher cry.  Gilson wrote several books about Hobie and his school friends.



C225: Collection of fairy tales
Solved: Let's Pretend


C226: Chapter Book
Solved: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew


C227: Cat that talks backwards
Solved: Half Magic


C228: Children's Collection?
Solved: Better Homes and Garden Story Book


C229: Children visit heraldic land
This one is REALLY obscure! I read the book as a small child and it was old then - I think it dates to the 1920s or 30s. The title may be 'The Griffin' or 'The Gryphon'. Some children go to a magic country inhabited by heraldic animals.  Their guide is the griffin/gryphon. The ultimate enemy is the cockatrice.  Somewhere in this story was also a very 'alternative' family whose small children were called Battle, Murder and Sudden Death.  You can see why I remember it!

C229 It's not Stockton The griffin and the minor canon
gerald durrell, the talking parcel
Gerald Durrell, The Talking Parcel,
1974.  I too am almost sure this book is Gerald Durrell's The Talking Parcel.  Although it was published in 1974.  There are fire breathing Cockatrices and a Gryphon.  Three cousins called Peter Penelope and Simon journey to the land of Mythologia where flowers never die and there are four sunsets a day.



C230: Children turn into crows
Solved: Magic in the Park


C231: Civil War Young Romance
Come the Spring/Let the Spring Come, 1960s.  The plot was a girl during the American Civil War who went to a spring or creek one day and saw a young soldier.  He asked her for something to eat.  Over the next four years of the war, he comes in and out of her life.  The reader is never sure which army the boy is in.  It is a very nice, gentle young adult historical romance.

I think you have the title correct.  Try this: Henry Schindall. LET THE SPRING COME. Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1953. Dramatic Novel of Virginia and Kentucky in Revolutionary Days-   poignant love story, fast-moving story of adventure, intrigue and a fearful battle against odds, and an inspiring story of hope and courage- story of human beings in time of turmoil and stress- .  It's hard to find; but I did find a nice first edition copy available for $80.  Let me know if you want it...
You answered my query (C231) , but I think you chose the wrong book.  The book by Henry Schindall takes place in the Revolutionary War, and the book I am interested in takes place in the American Civil War.  I contacted a bookseller who has the book for sale and he said it definitely takes place during the Revolutionary war.  I specifically remember that the period is the 1860's because the guy never tells the girl what side he is fighting on.  The book takes place over the 4 years of the Civil War.  The Revolutionary War lasted 8 years.
John Lawson, The Spring Rider. This sounds like a wonderful out of print book from Harper & Row, in which the
mysterious soldier may or may not be Abraham Lincoln. There's a young girl and, I believe, her brother.



C232: Conan
Solved: The Incredible Tide


C233:  Crow
Looking for a story my brother used to love when he was in the 1st or 2nd grade.  It was a story about a Crow.  I think he caused mischief.  It started out with "Caw Caw".  Then the crow did somehting else and the text was "Caw Caw More More".  Then another even happened and it read "Caw Caw More More Beep Beep".  You get the idea.  As for time frame, we read this in the mid 1970's but I think the book was older then (library book), so maybe from the 1940's-1970's.  Thanks for any help!


C234: Chess
A novel for teens about a group of kids and playing chess.  This was writeen in the late 50s or early 60s and has a chess-type title (eg. Black Queen).

C235: Christmas story about Brownie/Grandpa Elf
Ok, this is a story about Santa who is trying to get ready for christmas Eve and his elves are helping him.  I remember Brownie elf Grandpa elf, who wore glasses and fell asleep on a shelf.  I remember Mrs. Claus made cookies and I think they fed the reindeer in the barn.  Some of the elves spilled paint on the floor.  this is NOT the one that rhymes, there was this book that we had first in the early 80's and then we moved and my mom bought another version that rhymes and we hated that one!  please let me know if you know anything about this book.  thanks!

I am the original stumper requester- the book has an elf that they call a brownie (apparantly brownies and elves are the same thing) and one is grandpa and he falls asleep on a shelf, another loses his glasses, Mrs. Claus bakes cookies for the elves, they feed the reindeer and on brownie spill red paint.  this book is so important to me and my mother.  neither of us can remember the name, but it wonderfully and colorfully illustrated.  thanks!

Sparkie with George Hinke illus., Jolly Old Santa Claus, 1961.  This sound an awful lot like Jolly Old Santa Claus published  by Ideal in the early 1960's. There are a couple of things that don't match.  No Brownie.  Gran'pa Elf just won't wear his glasses.  Everything else matches.  The illustrations are vibrant busy oil paintings by Geo. Hinke.  At the end Santa returns to find that their cat has had kittens.
Sparkie , Jolly Old Santa Claus, 1961.  I wrote in that I believed this to be Jolly Old Santa Claus, but that one thing I could not find was an elf named Brownie.  When I said that I was going by the 1990's reprint, which said it had the original story and all the original illustrations! Still I had a sneaking suspicion that it was revised because I vaguely remembered some things such as the spilled paint and the elves going to bed which were not there!  Well,  I found my brother's 1961 copy and lo and behold it has been much revised.  Nearly all the elves have been renamed, except Grampa.  And in the original the elves are all called brownie  there is Brownie Jingle who spills the paint, Brownie Grampa who is always forgetting his glasses, Lazy brownine who hides high on top of a shelf so as not to have to work and there is and section where the brownies help Mrs. Claus in the kitchen with making cookies and when the work is all done she serves them cookies. What I can not find is anyone sleeping  on a shelf, but like I said Lazy Brownie is on a shelf and looks like he is snoozing!  If this is the book beware of the reprint!  It is not the same (but still very charming). There are sections missing and some new ones added.
Mauri Kunnas, Santa Claus and His Elves,1981.This sounds quite a bit like a book that I just recently refound for my son who was born in 1981, so the right time frame. There is a lot going on in the pictures including pretty much every thing you mentioned.   I think it was originally written in Finnish.



C236: castle is there
Solved: Tom's Tower


C237: chimney, potato famine, underground, time travel
Solved: The Mine of Lost Days


C238: Colors- Red Blue Yellow
Solved:  Open Your Eyes


C239: Chinese water buffalo - Dabitse (sp?)
Solved: Dabbitse


C240: Cat Painter in Paris
by Huxley or Maugham?,  late 1940s.  The storyline is about a youmg man living in Paris after the war who paints pictures of "moggies" (cats) to make a living, but knows he has "greater" works of art in him if only he had  the means to make them. His girlfriend goes out with an older man to help make ends meet and the story unfolds around this scenario. I have read everything I can find by Aldous Huxley and also be Somerset Maugham as the style of the writing had a rather dry, disparaging style characteristic of their work and era. However I am coming to the conclusion it may be by a more obscure author or could even be a short story in a collection.

The genre is defintielty not in the children's section! It's definitely adult fiction I am starting to think it's probably in an anthology of short stories.
This has some similarities to the short story "The Unknown Masterpiece" by Honore de Balzac, but I don't think anyone paints cats.  In Balzac's story, a young painter persuades his beautiful girlfriend to pose for an older man, a painter who has gone mad over a masterpiece he has been working on.  It's a great story and the poster would probably enjoy it.



C241: "Charlie" - Prisoner of War
Solved: The Man in the Box


C242: Cuban Missile Crisis
Solved: Mystery of the Secret Message


C243: Creatures with hats design trap against invasion
I am looking for a children's picture book which would have been in print by the late 70s/early 80s. The community of creatures each wore hats, including the king. The community was afraid of an invasion and built an elaborate trap as protection. Two of the characters' names resemble Quantimodius and Pointus (?). The book may have incorporated basic physics concepts.

Here are some more details: The trap that the people designed was a large hemisphere suspended from a pulley. I think the people wore pointy hats and rode horses. 



C244: Cats with paintbrushes
I am looking for a book, probably about 45 years old, that was about 4 cats with paintbrushes, who painted in pastel colours.

Could this be Color Kittens, the Little Golden book?
Margaret Wise Brown, The Color Kittens
Margaret Wise Brown, The Color Kittens, ca. 1950.  This does sound like The Color Kittens, except that there were only two of them (Hush and Brush), and I don't recall the colors as being pastels, necessarily.  (As I recall the story, Brush and Hush were trying to create green paint, and came up with pink and orange before they finally got the recipe right.  They then fell asleep and had dreams about some other colors before waking up, getting pouncy, and spilling over all of their buckets, thus creating all the colors in the world.)  The original illustrations were by the Provensens  I've seen a more recent edition with redone pictures, but if the contributor is thinking of a book published 45 years ago (and assuming that The Color Kittens is the correct book), then the memory the contributor has must be of the Provensens' illustrations.



C245: Cars with faces
Solved: Modern Story Book


C246: children have time travel machine
Solved: Time Machine to the Rescue


C247: Children's dragon story
I'm looking for a book my Nanny used to read mewhen i was little probably 1984ish though i don't think the book was new. It was about a young bot dragon meeting the girl (dragon) of his dreams. The pictures were colour and cartoon like, cover was maybe yellow. It all rhymed but i can't remember the story too well. The only quote i have is..."Eye's like diamonds, teeth like pearls. Oh how he wished that he could touch her, talk to her he didn't dare" Any help in finding this story would be great. Thanks.

Myers, Dragon Takes A Wife.  There was an early edition of this book that might be what you are looking for.
I totally remember that quote, also had the book in question. There was more than one in the series but the character (boy dragon) was called dennis the dragon and at least one of the books was named dennis the dragon. I think the first one was about him going off to school. they had brilliant illustrations!



C248: Christmas-  Old Fashioned Santa on Cover
Solved: A Child's Christmas Cookbook


C249: Christmas Tannenbaum
Christmas story about a tannenbaum wanting fancier decorations than needles...tried using coins, and crystals which broke

Henry Van Dyke, Foolish Fir Tree.  This sounds like the story of the foolish fir tree who wished for leaves of gold, glass
and lettuce. See this website.
Thanks for taking the time to send in this suggestion.  The gist of the tree story is the same, but the book we're trying to find was prose. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
Bailey Carolyn, short story in collection - little fir tree?  I have  clipping from an old book.  I tell my own version of this story.  The tree is not a Christmas tree, however, just a fir tree in the forest.  It wants to have pretty leaves instead of ugly needles.  Then when given a chance to wish, it tries for something even better than the broadleaf trees.  It gets crystals and the wind destroys them, gold leaves and a man picks them.  Then the tree decides to go with the original idea of green broad leaves, but a goat eats them.  Finally the tree realizes that it is best to be happy with one's self.

Rose Dobbs, Once Upon a Time Story Book, 1958 Random House, copyright.The story in the collection is entitled The Pine Tree and is the same referred to by Caroline Bailey. This version is not a Christmas tree by a pine tree in the forest that wishes for gold leaves, then glass, then green leaves and is finally happy with the original green needles.



C250: chipmunks living in roots of big old tree
Solved: Chip Chip


C251: Cassandra
Solved: Hobby Horse Hill


C252: Children at War
Book must have been first publihed in 1938 to 1942. A young boy wishes for a set of toy solders, toy cannons, etc. to fight a backyard model war with his friend next door. His father buys such toys and the armies are arrayed across the yard elaborately. The cannons fire actual minature shells such that their hands are wounded from this "war".


C253: Choose the ending
Solved: Choose Your Own Adventure


C254: Corliss Archer and Poindexter
Solved: Meet Corliss Archer


C255: Cats, Castles, Clouds
I'm looking for a children's story that i read whenI was in elementary school, from the school library. The book must have been published prior to 1980, as I was in first grade in 1980, but it could have come out a few years into school? It wasn't too long, and it was a fantasy story about a cat, and or cats that lived in a castle in the clouds. That's all I really remember, but I really enjoyed it and can't seem to find anything about this book doing Internet searches. Hope you can help. Thanks

Ursula K LeGuin, Catwings series ???
Boegehold, In the Castle of Cats?



C256: Can't  Remember
The story, which may be fictional, concerns itself with a WW2 incident..Three or four soldiers, I believe,French are trapped by a bombardment, in a German food bunker on the Maginot(sp) line.  Totally cut off, but with ample food and wine, and a large supply of candles, they try to make the best of a desperate situation.  They are not discovered for several years, and the candles had run out long before.  Two or three suvive, but are half blind, fithy and disorienated. Its agripping story, but for the life of me, I can,t remember the title or author.  Can you help?

Jean Paul Clebert, The Blockhouse, 1958  in English, 1955 in French.  What must be the same book was asked about a few years ago on another of my lists;  it eventually drew this response (note that a movie was also made from the book):  "The Blockhouse" (1973), directed by Clive Rees, starring Peter
Sellers, Charles Aznavour, Jeremy Kemp, Peter Vaughan, Nicholas Jones, et al. Maltin summary:  "Dismal, downbeat story of laborers trapped in underground  bunker when the Allies land at Normandy on D-Day."  And OCLC yields this:  1955 novel by Jean Paul Clebert, "Le Blockhaus" -- English edition 1958. 



C257: compendium of children's stories, poems etc
Solved: The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature


C258: Children's Short Story Book From 80's
This children's short story book was produced in the 80's, appropriate for older children, black & white illustrations, oversized softcover, I think; one is about a boy who finds a pair of boots on a street corner, when he puts them on he starts running and he can't stop. Another story is about a boy who always lies, he says his parents work for the circus, none of his classmates believe him, then he disappears from school and the teacher tells the children that the boy had to join his family back with the circus. Another story is about a boy who is skiing on a mountain and goes down faster than he should and he hears the mountain say that he should slow down but it's too late and he gets in an accident.  Another story is about a girl who is delivering papers in storm and she gets sucked down in the drain pipe and is holding onto the edge to save herself.  Also one about a girl who is swimming in the ocean and a shark comes up behind her and bumps the backs of her legs, but then swims away.  It makes a point about how a shark will attack some people but not others.

C259: Chimp with a smile his mother loved
Book of short stories about animals, late 50's. Possibly British.  Very sad endings, and one story ends with  either mother chimp or baby chimp dying, and the baby gives his mother the smile she loves.

C260: Caterpillar changes into butterfly just in time!!
Possibly late 50's/early 60's.  A caterpillar (a secondary character) is in a chrysalis (I think)...Has to warn his friends about some impending danger, turns into a butterfly "just in time" and is able to make the journey. (I think the main characters were children.)

I'm pretty sure this is one of the Cosgrove "Serendipity" books - not sure which one, but sounds very, very familiar.
C260 is not Cosgrove's The dream tree which is about a caterpillar wishing it knew what it would be like to be a butterfly -  no friends in danger. It is not the Chubby Board Book The Caterpillar who turned into a butterfly.
Beverly Nichols, The Mountain of Magic. This is the third book of the series,preceded by '\''The tree that Sat Down'\'' and '\''The Stream that Stood Still'\'' A wicked witch gets all the animals in a cave, and prepares to break open a dam and drown them all. A caterpilar that was scared of becoming a butterfly hatches out, and flies furiously to warn them. I think he dies of exhaustion.



C261: Clubhouse picture book kids paint newspapers
Solved: The Curious Clubhouse

2004


C262: Cat from ancient Egypt is immortal
Novel about a cat given to a young boy by an old man.  Old man says the cat (whose name is Ka) has been alive since ancient Egyptian times and can't die because he drank mummification fluid.  I keep thinking the book was called "The Cat Who Wouldn't Die" or "The 2,000 Year Old Cat," but searches turn up nothing.  I read it when I was about 10, so this would have been about 1983; I don't know how old the book was at that time, though.  I can't remember much about the plot, but I think the boy played baseball and upon being given the cat his luck improved. In the end, I think the cat disappears, and it is implied the Egyptian gods came and collected him.

julia jarman, the time travelling cat and the egyptian goddess.  this book features a cat called Ka and is easily available.
The Jarman book looks iffy to me as a solution, per a listing on the "Ancient Egypt in Fiction" Web bibliography.  Three problems: the dates don't match (poster's book was read in 1983, but Jarman's book was apparently published in 1992)  the origin stories for Jarman's cat and the poster's don't quite seem to match  and the endings don't quite match (note that Jarman's book is part of a series).
William MacKellar, The Cat That Never Died, 1976, copyright. On your SOLVED MYSTERIES - T page, I believe you have incorrectly identified "The Time Travelling Cat and the Egyptian Goddess" by Julia Jarman as the solution to this stumper. This is *not* the book described in the original query. For one thing, the publication date is far too late.  I believe that the correct solution is "The Cat That Never Died" by William MacKellar, published in 1976. Description: Mystery tale of a black cat that wandered into an Egyptian tomb and lived for 3000 years.  Young Jeff Considine tries to uncover the truth about this legend.
This stumper has been unsolved (as of April 2009) due to popular demand.  It seems we assumed the first suggestion was correct, but too soon.  Sorry!


C263: Christmas Mittens
Solved: The Tall Book of Christmas


C264: colors and sunshine
Solved: Frederick


C265: chinese silver slipper buckle
Solved: Rootabaga Stories


C266: CAT IN FABRIC MILL
Solved: Factory Kitty


C267: city kids help paint an apartment
o.k...we had this book in the 70's...vivdly illustrated book and i think the story was about some inner city kids getting together and helping to repaint an elderly womans apartment?? the illustrations included a lion and a sun with a face in it...if anyone can help i will be forever in your debt!! my sisters and i have been looking for this book since the 80's and now we have a new generation to read it to! peace...

i guess i should add...the illustrations were of the paintings the kids did on the walls of the apartment building, super rich colors of animals and landscapes....
i'm the poster of c267 and i had a question... i've been reading through your pages of books to see if anything sounds familliar to jog my memory for the name of the book i'm looking for, and I ran across the book No Children, No Pets... do you happen to know if this was an illustrated book or not? I told my sister the name and she said that sounded familliar, but we may be confusing our information?? We both really only remember the pictures in this book, so we have little other reference to go by...  Thank you so much for your help.
As far as I can tell, it's a juvenile novel with some b&w drawings.  Here's another description:  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1957. Hard Cover. Weekly Reader. Nice black and white illustrations.  A classic kid's story of a family who inherits an apartment house in Palm Glade, Florida and the strange tenants and hurricanes that they have to deal with.
o.k. thanks...its not the book i'm looking for if its just black and white illustrations...But again many thank yous for any attempt at finding this book for me!
o.k. talked to my dad, he says that it had to be new around 1969-1975, it was larger scale, hard-backed, but not alot of pages...he seems to think the title was something like "Mrs. Hopkins Apartment" or something of that nature...but he also said that he could easily be wrong...does this ring a bell with anyone out there?? peace...
I wonder if M248 & C267 refer to the same book?
yes, i'm pretty sure the other post is by another curious family member...the quest continues!!
hi i'm the poster of C267...but was wondering if possibly C261 was looking for the same book? I'm still in search of this colorful thing and actually have found pictures of a wall painted with the same illustrations in the book i'm trying to find,,,but still no title.... anyone...anyone??? thanks again for your help..
C261 was just solved as Leonard Shortall's The Curious Clubhouse, 1967. I don't think yours is the same...
i'm the original poster of C267...and i am still on the prowl for this book i had as a kid...after asking more family about it...some seem to recall it being called something like "mrs. (something or others) boarding house" or "mrs. something or others apartment building"...and only around 30 pages...if this helps or rings a bell with anyone, i would love to know!! updated: but now i have an image that may ring someones bell! i'm the poster of C267 and when we were kids and had this elusive book, my dad took one of the illustrations from it and painted it on my wall...well i found a picture of that wall painting and was hoping maybe someone would recognize it! crossing fingers~~



C268: collection of poems by schoolchildren in Texas
the book I'm searching for is a collection of poems by schoolchildren in Texas published between 1935-1937. My aunt who recently passed away wrote a poem as a child that was published in that book and she had a copy of it but it got lost while my mother was settling the estate. My mother wants very much to replace it but can remember very little, only that the title was simply something like "Poems of Schoolchildren of Texas" she thinks and the publication date I mentioned and that the cover was just a plain dull green. I have already searched using this info at biblio.com,  abebooks, and several others with no success.  Thanks for any suggestions you can make.

Blount, Iva M., Poems of Texas, 1936.  Was your aunt from San Antonio?  If so, this may be the book you're looking for:
Published in San Antonio by The Board of Education.  "Reproduced from type-written copy./ "This is a collection chosen and selected by pupils in the Edgar Allen Poe Junior School under the guidance ... of Mrs. Iva M. Blount ..." Foreword."  There is a copy in the Univ. of Texas at Austin library - check your local library to see if you can get it through interlibrary loan.
I did check with UT Austin library research. They say my aunt's poem is not listed in this book so I guess it isn't the book I'm looking for. But thank you for your trouble. I appreciate it.
Some more long shot possibilities, found in the WorldCat database:  But for a light  original verse /  Poetry Club (Thomas Jefferson High School, San Antonio, Tex.)  The Sigmund Press, 1935.  If crickets hear : original verse / Poetry Club (Thomas Jefferson High School, San Antonio, Tex.)  1936 Patriotic moments, a second book of verse by the Bellerophon quill club of the Booker T. Washington high school, Dallas, Texas.  by Brewer, John Mason, 1896-1975.  Booker T. Washington High School (Dallas, Tex.). Bellerophon Quill Club. 1936 Youth in verse : an anthology of poems by high school students.  North Texas State Teachers College, Denton, Tex.  1938 Youth in verse : an anthology of poems by high school students, volume II /  North Texas State Teachers College.  Denton, Tex. 1939
Bound typescript complilation of poems by students of the Demonstration School of the North Texas State Teachers College./ Foreword by Lillian Walker. edited by Georgia Rae Glover.



C269: Caterpillar Board Book (not Eric Carle's)
Solved: The Little Green Caterpillar


C270: Childrens cat book; illustrated with embroidery
Solved: Tell me Cat


C271: Crocodile Tears / Lion
Solved: Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure


C272: collection of short children's stories
Many, many years ago (mid 80's) a big box of books was lost during a move. In it was one of my favorite collections of children's short stories. For some reason lately I've really been wanting to reread those stories and have been unable to find another copy of that book. Mainly because my faulty memory has lost the title of said book over the years.  At this point I can only remember the synopsizes of two of the stories...   So, has anyone read the following two stories? And do you remember the name of a book that they were both in?  #1 A tale of a dragon who loves ice cream but can't eat any because it always puts his fire out. Kids help him try out different flavors and a friendly ice cream man comes up with "hot" ice cream flavors just for the dragon. The dragon gets to have his ice cream and fire breath too.
#2  A dragon is captured by a small village and the villagers feed it nothing but bread and cream. The dragon, while enjoying the bread and cream, seems to shrink in size. His scales fall off leaving soft fur behind. He becomes the first cat and the reader is gently admonished to never feed a cat raw meat lest he become a dragon again.

Check the Solved Mysteries pages for BIG Story Book (Malvina C. Vogel, 1978) and Giants & Witches, and a Dragon or Two (Phyllis R Fenner,  1943).
Govindan, Santhini, The ice-cream dragon and other stories.  Harper Collins 1993.  This may be too late a date, but I'm sending it because of the title. "Have you ever met .. a real Fire Breathing Little Dragon with a weakness for ice-cream? And Balban the Lion who hiccups .. and the Tooth Fairy who .. If not, you can meet them now as they inhabit the magical world of this book."
The first story doesn't ring any bells, but the second sound exactly like one of the stories in E. Nesbit's 'The Last of the Dragons and some others'



C273: Christmas Stories from the 50's
My mom is looking for a book that was very special to her as a child. It's a collecion of different Christmas stories. It's a hardback book with yellow cover, appx. 8 1/2 x 11. It was probably published in the 50's. There are color illustrations throughout. The story that she remembers is of a little girl that has gotten lost because the falling snow has covered up her footsteps. The picture in this story is of this little girl looking down a long street of homes with Christmas lights. My mom assumes the whole book is of Christmas stories because this is a Christmas story. I know there aren't too many details and appreciate any thoughts you might have. She's been looking for this for years and is sure she won't find it for lack of info. about it. It would be a great gift for me to give her. Thank you ALL!!

Smith, Dorothy Hall (ed.), Tall Book of Christmas, NY Harper 1954.  It may be this one (on the solved list), if the story of The First Christmas Tree is a bit garbled - in that one the woodcutter father gets lost in the snow, and is guided home by Christmas lights on trees. It has colour illos and a peach(?) background to the cover illo. However, it could also be The Santa Claus Book, if the recollection is of the story Susie's Christmas Star, with the little girl following her own footsteps in the snow along a street. That one is Golden Books, 1952, and also on the Solved list.
Christmas Ideals.  This book sounds very much like one of the Christmas Ideals. I was a child in the 50s, and read my grandmother's. She bought them every year. They are now softcover magazine format, but they used to be hard cover. Some booksellers specialize in them They would have color as we well as line and monochrome illustartions, stories and poems. They repeat a lot, so the individual story could be repeated later.



C274: children with witch fighting dead evil Viking warlord
Solved: The Giant Under the Snow


C275: Cave Boy River Village
Solved: Journey Outside


C276: Candy Man
Solved: The Candy Man and Other Verses


C277: collection of fairy tales
Solved: Fairy Tales


C278: City is turned topsy-turvy
City is turned topsy-turvy when a mischievous boy(?) creature(?) changes signs, etc. Big, full-page, colorful, busy street scenes. Published early 1960s. This is all I remember!

Mr. Pine's Mixed-Up Signs features a similar idea: Mr. Pine makes new signs for the town, but he can't find his glasses, so he puts them up randomly all over the city, to comic effect.  Now back in print.  See the Leonard Kessler page.
You suggested that the solution to my query might be Mr. Pine's Mixed-up Signs, but Kessler's illustrations didn't look familiar at all. The book format, as I remember, was bigger than an easy reader with full-page spreads and much brighter, less sketchy illustrations than were pictured in the "Purple House" book. So, unless the illustrations were very different in the "Signs" book, this isn't it. But, thanks anyway!
Eastman, P.D. (Philip D.), Sam and the Firefly, 1958.  Could this be it?  I hesitate to mention this book because it is an easy reader (so it isn't "bigger than an easy reader") and the illustrations are in four colors (turquoise, yellow, black and white) and may therefore not be "colorful" enough.  The plot: Sam the owl befriends Gus the firefly, who can make shapes in the air by keeping his light on and flying about rapidly.  Sam teaches Gus to make words that look like neon signs.  After a short period of innocent fun, the mischievous firefly uses his newfound talent to crash cars, confuse airplanes, and cause a stampede towards the local movie theater (he writes the words "COME IN!  FREE SHOW" over the marquee) and away from a local restaurant (he writes the word "COLD" over an ad for hot dogs).  The angry cook catches Gus in a jar and begins to drive the firefly out of town.  His truck stalls on a railroad track just as a train approaches.  Sam the owl smashes the jar and liberates Gus, who prevents a collision by writing "STOP" in front of the oncoming train.  All is forgiven and the two friends depart.
Arnold, Tedd, The Signmaker's Assistant, 1992.  If you're absolutely sure that the book is from the 1960s, this can't be it, but it meets all the other criteria.  This book is larger than an easy reader and full of big, colorful street scenes.  Norman, a young boy who cleans brushes at the signmaker's shop, decides to make a few signs of his own when the signmaker isn't around to supervise.  Norman has a great deal of fun at the townspeople's expense, but realizes he has erred when they become angry and tear down every sign in the town, old as well as new.  Chaos ensues and the townspeople chase the signmaker into the woods.  Norman apologizes and peace and order are restored.  Even if this isn't the book you're looking for, it's a worthwhile read, so check it out!
No, it's definitely not SAM AND THE FIREFLY. Actually a particular sign I remember is more like a big billboard and something on it - a picture or phrase- is defaced (in a humorous way). Possibly traffic signs are changed as well. Very colorful pics, busy and funny - sorry I can't remember more. I remember the cover was salmon-colored, but I think that was just a library binding - now why can I remember that detail, but not more important ones? Frustrating. Thanks for the guess.
Lipkind, William, illustrated by Nicolas Mordvinoff, Perry the Imp.  NY Harcourt 1956. Kind of a longshot, but the date is right. "The comic adventures of Perry the imp who came up from the sea, full of mischief, shouting "Landfolk, look out!" Turning the city of Dopple into another Venice made him a celebrity  taking care of the Dopplers' clocks had a different result. It is all fantastic nonsense, carried out with perfect harmony in the good read-aloud text and the details and atmosphere of striking color illustrations. The double-spread scene showing the Dopplers enjoying their new canals will occupy a small child a long time." (Horn Book Oct/56 p.346)
James Flora, Great Green Turkey Creek Monster, 1965. In this story the whole town is turned topsy-turvy great green hooligan vine town, a really fun book



C279: clever suitor filled a room w/candlelight to marry a princess
I'm trying to find the title to this story I read maybe 15 years ago in a book of fables. I can't remember if I read it in an older book or one that was modern. The story is basically about a king who has a beautiful daughter, rather than chose a husband for her. He sends out a chalenge to any man who might try. His chalenge is to fill a particular room in his castle completely. Many try but all but one fails. A young man enters the room with only a candle and flame, he sets the candle in the middle of the room and lights it, the light fills every corner of the room and he wins the hand of the princess. Any help is much appreciated.


C280: Cavegirl found
Solved: The Faraway Lurs


C281: Changeling / Witchling ??
I read this book when I was young, eleven or twelve maybe, 1970s. I may very well be getting two books mixed up together. The one I'm thinking of involves a brother and sister and perhaps a friend of theirs. The older brother calls the younger sister Luci, but it's short for Luciana or something similar. I remember a point in the story where Luci has to hide under a bush from the danger. I cannot remember what that danger was however. And all three, the brother, the sister, and the friend are running from it. At one point they go to the friend's house which is all dilapidated and rundown I think. Please help!

Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Changeling.  I could be wrong, but I know I read this book back in the 70's.  I don't, however, remember the plot.
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley, The Changeling, illustrated by Anton Raible.  NY Atheneum 1970.  This does sound like part of the answer (but only part) - the main characters are two young girls, Martha Abbott and Ivy Carson, but Ivy's young sister does play a part, and there is a memorable picture of a dark-haired girl crouched under a bush. The Carson home is large and dilapidated - the girls also explore the ruins of a burnt-out house. However I don't recall anyone called Luci or fleeing from a danger. The other book that comes to mind is The Other One, by Josephine Lee (alt. title Joy is Not Herself), published Knight 1974. In that one a very ordinary English family has one different daughter, called Melusine, who seems to have witchy powers and can ill-wish people. At one point the children hide behind a hedge while a girl who let Melusine's guinea pig die is bucked off her horse. The house they live in in the country is rather old and dilapidated. At the end of the book they seek the vicar's help in driving the evil spirit from Melusine through a night of prayer, and after that she is called by her middle name, which is Joy.
Boston (last name), The Children of Green Knowe, 1960s.  I think this may be the book you are looking for. The first in the series of the Green Knowe books.
Greaves, Margaret, The Dagger and the Bird, HarperCollins 1975, copyright.  I wonder if this could be The Dagger and the Bird? Two children, Luke and Bridget (shortened to Biddie) search for their younger brother who's been stolen by fairies. If the poster has reversed the names in memory, but remembered that one name was shortened, it could fit.



C282: Cat and Princess find gift
Solved: The Secret Cat


C283: Camp
Solved: Sal Fisher at Girl Scout Camp


C284: Cinderella holding a white kitten
Solved: My Book of Cinderella


C285: Cloud animals, blond boy (Dondi?)
Solved: Deegie and the Fairy Princess


C286: Christmas Card
Solved: A Christmas Card


C287: Carousel horse
Solved: Penny and the White Horse


C288: Carlo saves girl
Carlo, a collie, sees a girl run into the street and into the path of an oncoming car.  He pulls the girl to safety, but the car hits him.  Carlo has a broken hind leg.  Fortunately, Carlo recovers.  Could be a story in the Elson-Gray or Scott Foresman primers, no later than 1941.  Carlo also appears in another story in the 1936 Elson-Gray First Reader ("Carlo and the Big Bird"). 

C289: Cranberry Bog Mystery
Solved: Holly River Secret


C290: Cashmere sweaters and storm cellars
Solved:  Kathy


C291: Cody of the Ozarks
Solved: This Boy Cody


C292: Childcraft poem
Solved: Childcraft


C293: Cat and dog in wordless picture book
Solved: Pssst! Doggie--


C294: Cold, not gold, in cave
Solved: Ghost Town Treasure


C295: Child/angel
child/angel that grants a wish to shoemaker/cobbler who shows kindness

Red Boots for Christmas / The Cobbler's Gift.  If it's a Christmas story, it's one that has been told in many versions.  The Lutheran church put out a book and video called Red Boots for Christmas.  It's also been called The Cobbler's Gift.  The cobbler in these stories doesn't always show kindness, though, until the end in Red Boots for Christmas, he is a bitter, selfish man.  He is visited by an angel who says that God will be visiting him he goes around cleaning up, making a special meal and trying to find a gift for God in the meantime, assorted poor people come to his door and are either helped or not helped, depending on the version.  In the end, he is upset because God didn't come then God or the angel speaks to him and says that the needy people coming to the door represented God, and that was the point.
Additional Story details:  The story is of a child/angel who arrives in a small town and asks a wealthy shopkeeper and his wife for some food and they send him away.  He then asks a poor shoemaker/cobbler and he asks the child/angel to join him for dinner and shares his humble dinner with him.  He then offers the "child" a place to sleep (a straw mat) and then a breakfast.  The "child" thanks him for his kindness and tells the cobbler that whatever he does that day he will be successful at and do all day long.  When the cobbler arrives at his shop he begins to repair the shoes and proceeds to do so all day long, making a lot of money.  The greedy shopkeepers see this and ask him how this has come to be, so the cobbler tells them of the "childs" "wish".  The wife tells the husband to find the "child" so that they can benefit the same way.  The husband finds the "child" and takes him in for the evening providing him with a wonderful dinner, a feather bed to sleep in and a wonderful breakfast.  As the "child" leaves he tells them the same as the cobbler.  So the shopkeepers rush to their store and clean out cabinets and drawers to hold all the money tey're going to make. Instead, all they do is empty boxes all day and they make no money. I saw this story in a small book, like a Golden Book in the early seventies, but I don't know who the author was or the name of the story.  I have looked for it for quite some time.



C296: Charmed Circle
Solved: Katie Rose series


C297: Candy land with two kids
A boy and a girl (sister and brother?) are transported to a land made all of candy.  This was my mother's book as a child.  She was born in 1931.  I read it in the 50's.  It was a thick novel, maybe 150-200 pages, with a tan colored cloth binding and a color reproduction plate on the front cover. Color reproduction plates of paintings illustrate the story throughout. Maybe 15-20 of these.

I actually have three suggestions for this one.  The first is the 1928 book Candy Land, which was a part of the Little Color Classics series and had a number of color plates of illustrations.  No author was listed for it, but the illustrator was Hildegard.  It was about a little girl named Betty and her friend Brunny (who was a bear, not a boy) and how they visited a land made of candy.  The second suggestion is Candy Country by Louisa May Alcott (who, of course, wrote "Little Women").  It was published in 1900 and has a similar story (a girl named Lily visits a fantasy land of candy), but I do not know if it was ever published with color illustrations.  Finally, there is In Wink-a-Way Land by Eugene Field, published in 1930 - it definitely had color illustrations and a picture of children picking candy from a field on the cover, but I do not really know the story.  Hope one of these is what you are looking for.
Baum, Frank, Magical Monarch of Mo.  Sounds like it could be a chapter out of the Magical Monarch of Mo, written before 1930s.  In one chapter one of the princes is banished to an island made entirely of candy.
I have a few suggestions for you since they were offered to me as solutions to my stumper.
1.  A trip to Lazibonia, by HM Denneborg aka Heinrich-Maria Denneborg, translanted by Anne Rogers, illustrated by Horst Lemke, published in London by Kaye and Ward Ltd, 1971
2.  Adventures of Calico Cotton, Helen Lawrence Backman, drawings by Joyce Langelier
published by Rolton House, Inc., 1967
3.  How about Hansel & Gretel, Dot & Tot from the Oz Books, or the Nutcracker and the Mouse King?' 



C298: Candy
Solved: The Sweet Touch


C299: Collection of short stories
Solved: Through Golden Windows


C300: consequences of electing wrong president
Uninformed electorate puts personable, attractive, but incompetent president in office. Democracy suffers.  This is all I remember about a book I reported on for a history class in my senior year of high school (I graduated in 1950).  My history teacher was very pleased with my selection of this book.

Except for the dates, plot sound similar to those in Eugene Burdicks The 480 and Ninth Wave. (He also wrote Fail-Safe and The Ugly American.)
Not sure, but I think that might be today's newspaper (Nov 3rd, 2004)
Probably Sinclair Lewis' IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE (1936)?  If not--  Two long shots, both obscure: PRESIDENT RANDOLPH AS I KNEW HIM by John Francis Goldsmith (1935) and PRESIDENT JOHN SMITH by Frederick Upham Adams (1897, but reprinted a few times since then).  I think President Smith turns out to be a good president (the book is sometimes cited in bibliographies of utopian fiction), though.  I don't know anything about the Goldsmith book beyond the title and fact that it's set some twenty years in what in 1935 was the future.



C301: clock in grandfather's house
Solved: The Cat in Grandfather's House


C302: child abuse
Solved: Like the Lion's Tooth


C303: cat saves car from snowstorm
Solved: Elephi, the Cat with the High IQ


C304: children's ghost story collection
Solved: Ghosts and More Ghosts


C305: collection of short stories
Solved: The Anything Box


C306: cats cradle
Solved: Cat's Cradle, Owl's Eyes


C307: Cross on Canyon Wall
Solved: Ghost Town Treasure


C308: Christmas time, black and white illustration
Solved: The Christmas Kitten


C309: childrens poetry, owl, wynken
This was a paperback book I had when I was little (circa 1974).  It was childrens poems, and the cover was maybe blue and soft and pastelly.  I know it contained Wynken blynken and Nod, the owl and the pussycat, the gingham dog, maybe Mr. Nobody.  Each page had pictures, and I remember an owl and a pussycat dancing, kids sailing in a shoe, and bits of gingham flying around.  Maybe a spoon and fork dancing?  Not sure about that one. The pictures might have been black and white, but the cover I think was mostly blue.  Hey, I've seen you guys do tougher ones than this!!  There was also a poem about a puffin or something, some sort of little penguin looking thing, and in the picture, he seemed kinda sad and lonely.  Also, the cover had a very motherly feel to it, like a mother putting a baby to sleep or something.  It actually may have been bedtime poetry, now that I think of it.

Have you looked through the Anthology Finder to see if anything looks familiar?  Check out the Big Golden Book of Poetry....
Puffin poem:  I don't know which collection you had, but you can find the puffin poem here (scroll down a ways).
I had a book of poems by Eugene Field (I think) that included Winken, Blinken and Nod and the Gingham Dog and the Calico cat.  I remember the dog and cat got in a fight and there were bits of fabric all around when they finished fighting. This might be it..
If the collection included The Owl and the Pussycat, it would not have been a book of poems by Field, since that one is by Edward Lear.  The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat is properly called The Duel, and it has been included in many collections of childrens' poetry.



C310: Christmas Horror Short Stories for children/teenagers
This was a book that i owned about 10 years ago so i guess it was published around then, i can't remember the title or the editor but it was a book of short stories by different authors, all with a christmas theme and all horror stories. For example on one story a boy burns down his house by tipping over the xmas tree and kills his parents, who he hates, and in another a girl spends xmas in a squat and discovers a skeleton behind a wall. There was also a story in which two children hate their stepsister and at xmas they get coal in their stockings while she gets presents, and one where a girl's house burns down and her mother dies in the fire, which involved a painting of a sunset. Basically it's about a lot of people having a really terrible christmas! Any help with the title etc. would be much appreciated!

Here are some possibilities - who knew there were so many Christmas horror books out there??  And I'm thinking the first books may all be the same book with different titles. -Mysterious Christmas tales : horror stories for the festive season. (Scholastic, 1999, 1993) "Includes stories by Gillian Cross, Susan Price and Robert Swindells". -Chilling Christmas tales (Scholastic, 1993, 1992) -Haunting Christmas tales : horror stories for the festive season / Joan Aiken / Nine stories of Chritmas past and present, mysterious, scary things have a way of happening, whether the people in them have been naughty or nice. "Jingle bells / Tessa Krailing -- The woodman's enigma / Garry Kilworth -- The weeping maid / Robert Swindells -- The investigators / David Belbin -- The cracked smile / Anthony Masters -- The other room / Jill Bennett -- The chime child / Ian Strachan -- Crespian and Clairan / Joan Aiken -- Across the fields / Susan Price."  These look like adult titles: -Chillers for Christmas / Richard Dalby   -Shivers for Christmas / Richard Dalby  -Mistletoe & mayhem : horrific tales for the holidays / Richard Dalby
Scott Corbett (author), Mircea Vasiliu (illustrator), The Big Joke Game (1972)  I've read this, and it is definitely the book the stumper requester is looking for!  I don't have it in front of me, but here is what I remember.  Ozzie is a fun-loving boy who irritates the adults around him with his incessant jokes, riddles and pranks, and his obsession with board games.  When he gets into serious trouble at school, his parents think about sending him to a military academy, and Ozzie decides to run away.  While climbing down the trellis outside his window, he falls into The Big Joke Game, a life-size board game that he must win in order to return to earth.  With his "guardian devil" Bub at his side, Ozzie has many strange experiences and gains a degree of maturity before the book concludes.  Fun and interesting without being preachy or heavy-handed.  See the Solved Mysteries "B" page for more information.



C311: China dog
Solved: No Flying in the House


C312: Children on the Oregon Trail
Solved: Children of the Covered Wagon


C313: Crosspatch the Friendly Lion
Solved: Crosspatch


C314: Colonial Boy
Solved: The Star-Spangled Banner


C315: Christmas Chipmunks
Solved: The Biggest, Most Beautiful Christmas Tree


C316: Christmas Polar Bears
Solved: The Christmas Book (Jaques)

2005


C317: Children waiting for Christmas
Solved: Christmas is Coming


C318: Catskill Mountains with Ginsing
When I was in fourth grade ('79-80) my teacher read a book to us.  The main characters were two teenage boys, the book was set in the Catskill Mountains of NY and Ginsing root some how played a part in the story.  I think that there was also a cabin that was supposed to be haunted, screaming or noise coming from it,  but which turned out to have a  simple explination like a bird - maybe a loon or woodpecker?  It seems the book may have been set in the 50's.  It was a hardcover book but I do not remember a dust jacket of any sort.

Could it be any of these? Evers, Alf, The deer-jackers.  illus by Lewis Parker.  Macmillan, 1965. George, Jean Craighead. On the far side of the mountain.  Puffin, c1990.  I did just read more than I should have of this one: A teen  age boy, Sam Gridley, a teenager from NYC spends a yr really really living  on the land. He used a lot of wild plants, but ginseng was not one of them and there wasn't really any mystery cabin in this one, and  not 2 teenagers, tho he did have visitors.  Also by George, Jean Craighead,  The moon of the owls.  Crowell c1967
My book is not any of the Jean Craighead George books, as she is one of my favorite authors (I probably should have mentioned that in the original email).  Its also not The Deer-jackers. I also remember that the money that could be earned from the Ginsing somehow solved a problem-maybe in keeping the land that the cabin was on.
Eda & Richard Crist, The secret of Turkeyfoot Mountain.  I remember it well. I don't own a copy at this moment, so I can't give copyright date.  The story of two boys who seek a the lost cabin of a "Sang Hunter" (wild Ginseng hunter) and the treasure of fine roots he left behind. The book features the lyrics of a mountain ballas about the Sang Hunter's ghost "...in his long black coat/Laughin' through the wilderness."
Irene Hunt, No Promises in the Wind.   I don't know if these will be right, but two books came to mind, although both seem a little advanced for fourth grade. No Promises in the Wind (Irene Hunt) is about 2 brothers from Chicago during the depression, who run away and survive on thier own. Where the Lilies Bloom has several brothers and sisters living and surving on thier own by gathering herbs to sell, particularly Ginseng, they however live in the Appalachians not the Catskills. Don't know if these will help, Good Luck.



C319: Christmas story
Solved: A Little Cowboy's Christmas


C320: Cats, Spaceship, and a Genie bottle?
Solved: Gladys the Glint


C321: Cathy  on the Oregon Trail
Solved: Cathy and Carl of the Covered Wagon


C322: Cotic the seal
Solved: Kotick the White Seal


C323: Chess Oak Tree
Solved: The Chestry Oak


C324: Covered wagon to California
This book was a diary of a young girl who traveled in a covered wagon to California. She had a brother with a horse named Scout, and at the end of the book, her brother was prepared to shoot Scout for food because the oxen were more valuable. He shot into the air, and was heard by a rescue party who came from California. The rescue party brought oranges. I believe the diary she was given at the beginning of the story was blue leather with gold trim. I read this story in the mid 1970s.

George R. Stewart, To California by Covered Wagon, 1954. This could be it -- it is by Random House Books for Young Readers, for approx ages 10-12. Reprinted as "Pioneers Go West" in 1984. From the viewpoint of a boy named Moses, though.


C325: cat with peg leg
Solved: King and the Princess


C326: Chinese man paints Easter eggs
Solved: The Whiskers of Ho Ho


C327: Carole and Penny
Solved: Penny Parrish series


C328: Chinaberry Tree Mystery
Chinaberry Tree Mystery or The Mystery of the Chinaberry Tree My mom read this when she was in grade school, would have been the 1940s or 1950s. They moved before she was able to finish it; I sure would love to find it for her!

C329: Cat with glasses
Title unknown.  Only fact known: The cat wore glasses - and this fact is important to the conclusion of this children's story.  If this rings any bells, please let us know.  Thanks.

Lasson, Robert, Orange Oliver: the kitten who wore glasses, Young Readers Press, 1957.  Just a guess.



C330: Car changes color
Solved: The Speedy Little Taxi


C331: Child at toy store picks a stuffed animal with button face
Solved: Corduroy

C332: City friends build country house
Solved: Hans and Peter


C333: Cosmo- time traveler at mill
Solved: The Shadow Guests


C334: Children playing in a life sized board game
Solved: The Big Joke Game


C335: Crafts Book 1960s
Solved: McCall's Giant Make-It Book


C336: Caliban
Solved: The Witches' Bridge


C337: Canadian Crafts book
Your website is the best.  Now I'm looking for another book, given to me as a gift in the mid-1960s by friends of my family who visited from Canada. It was a small format craft book with dustjacket.  I don't remember the projects, but the idea was you could use things commonly found at home. Near the front of the book it said to "Have your Mummy help you".  I remember the use of "Mummy" rather than "Mommy" but don't remember any other details.

Sorry, no ideas about the specific craft book, but I might point out that Canadians (where I live anyway) usually spell Mommy with an o, not a u.  So maybe your book was a British import?
I think you may be right, this book must have been a British import.



C338: Christian redemptions
Solved:   Living Hope Library Series


C339: City vacation
A book I read in the 1950's about a little black girl who goes to the city to spend time with, I think, her grandmother.  I don't know if it has an illustration or if I just imagined a picture of the little girl sitting on the stoop of a building.

Eva Knox Evans, Araminta.  1930s
Good guess, but the little girl is visiting her grandmother in the city, not the country.
This sounds like a story I read in grade school, that was in one of our readers. I remember "Aquí está mi nieta" - here is my granddaughter. I remember the little girl walking through the city. I don''t remember the author or title, but I'll keep looking!


C340: Cars (or trucks) bump together
My brother has been looking for a book that he remembers from his childhood in the late 1940's or early 1950's. It was a Golden Book and had the following sentence in it: "The red truck (or maybe car) and the blue truck (again, maybe car) bump together and that was an accident and that's too bad."

There are a few Golden Books featuring Cars/Trucks: Try Cars #251, c1956, Author: Kathryn Jackson. Cars and Trucks #366,c1969, no author, Illus.Richard Scarry.  Also check the Little Golden Book Collector's Identification & Price Guide which should be in the library reference section.  It shows the front cover of all their books. I hope this helps.



C341: Crustaceans Undersea Crabs Underwater Kingdom
The children's illustrated fiction hardbound book I seek might have had the words "Crustaceans Undersea Crabs Underwater Kingdom" in the title--possibly, but not for certain. The book had to do with a guest being shown around an undersea "kingdom" or court.  There were crabs (maybe even fiddler crabs) in the story, and when the guest was shown around, I believe the guestroom had seaweed silk pillows (gold-green) to sit on.  In fact, I think it was some sort of custom that one was required to sit on these pillows!  The slim, approximately 12" x 12" storybook was purchased around 1954, and was lavishly illustrated in color.  The size wasn't huge, but it was a hardback "trade" book. The book was written for children who already knew how to read, and was not a learn-to-read, nor adolescent book, so it was for elementary school children, I think.  The book wasn't a version of "The Little Mermaid," I don't think. Nor was it the retelling of a a classic.   Basically, the plot had to do with being introduced to a crab culture or crab society, and there may have been a crab king or some such hierarchy.  The protagonist felt like a stranger in a strange land.  The book took place only underwater, and was fiction, not science.  I think it must have been one of those books written to sell in bookstores--a slim, entertaining volume and not a series of adventures.  The book must have been published in the early 1950s, as my mother bought the book for me around 1954 at Levy's Department Store, Savannah, Georgia, in their Mezzanine book department.   Levy's has now become the library for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), so I am afraid the store's inventory records are likely unavailable--but I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to call the school and ask!

From what I have learned about the book I seek, at least I was able to input that info on another stumper that describes the exact plot of the book I am searching. Unfortunately, the book I found was British, with fussy illustrations and too recently published.  The book I need about an undersea tour was likely American, published in 1953 or 1954, with illustrations that were more heavy black outlines and bold colors within.   I was able to find Priscilla and the Prawn on the Internet, look at its illustrations, and was able to determine it was not the book, but I did relate that book info to stumper # L 136, a quest for something that sounded identical.   Won't give up on my book, and am desperate!   Thanks for your site!
Hewson, Isabel Manning, Land of the Lost, 1945.  Could it be this one, from the Solved list? The time is right, and there is an undersea kingdom, though I don't know whether it is only for crustaceans.
Re stumper C341, someone has posted a response, but the suggested book, "The Land of the Lost" by Hewson (1945) is not the book, as that book deals with fresh water, originates above ground, and the book I am seeking takes place completely in the ocean, with marine animals (shrimp families, crab families, etc.). I remember that each marine animal family had its special color silk pillow on which to sit.   ... although I do want to note how appreciative I am for the reply.



C342: ck wallace
book my teacher read aloud to the class in third grade (about 22 years ago) All I remember is a group of sibllings (although possibly friends)--at least two guys and a girl--being transported to some alternate land (or maybe just time when magic worked) and undergoing some adventure/quest.  I remember it as being dark comapred to other children's books I had been exposed to at the time.  I think there was "Tower" in the title and I vividly remember a passage in the book where they are transported to another place and end up coming up from underground and it was described as "swimming" through the earth.

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair.  Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole are transported to Narnia where they must rescue Prince Caspian, who is under a spell and being held prisoner in a land deep underground. Not sure if this is the one -- they don't "swim through the earth" per se, but that phrase reminded me of the mayhemic scene in which they are trying to race to the surface.
The "CK Wallace" (which reminds me of Charles Wallace) and the three kids travelling makes me wonder if this could be A Wrinkle In Time by L'Engle. It's possible the scene described is when the kids go to the 2-dimensional world?
C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia.  Digory and Polly become friends when he moves in with his uncle a maigcian who has magical rings that transport the children into and enchanted world. They enter this world through a pool in the woods and encounter a land of eternal winter.  This is the first book of seven entitled The Magician's Nephew.  The more popular second book is The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe which has four children who live in Digory's home many years later.  Their adventures start by entering the land of Narnia by stepping through the back of the wardrobe.
Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time, 1962.  This sounds like A Wrinkle in Time, although others will know better.  Two siblings -- Meg and her brother Charles Wallace -- and a boy from Meg's school travel through a wrinkle in time to try to rescue Meg's father.  No tower in the title, but there's a lot of talk in the book of "tesseracts."  Also, it's not clear what the "ck wallace" as the heading for the request denotes, but if the contributor recalls that one of the characters had a similar name, s/he is probably remembering Charles Wallace.
Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time, 1962.  It's unclear why the title of this stumper is "ck wallace", but if the stumper requester thinks this could be the name of a character, the book sought could be A Wrinkle in Time.  Charles Wallace Murry, his sister Meg, and her schoolmate Calvin O'Keefe are transported through a tesseract to the planet Camazotz, where they hope to rescue Meg's father.  As for the "swimming through the earth" passage the stumper requester remembers---this description of the end of Meg's first tesseract trip is from page 58: "And this feeling of moving with the eath was somewhat like the feeling of being in the ocean, out in the ocean beyond this rising and falling of the breakers, lying on the moving water, pulsing gently with the swells, and feeling the gentle, inexorable tug of the moon."
the book I was looking for definately wasn't a wrinkle in time, I've read that whole series repeatedly and other than it having children in it, there aren't any parallels to the book I am seeking.
Alan Garner, Elidor, '60s??  This description reminds me of elements of Garner's Elidor, and of another of his books (where there's a substantial underground section, although I don't recall any "swimming") called The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.
Joy Chant, Red Moon and Black Mountain This might possibly be the one.
Margaret Jean Anderson, In the Keep of Time. (1977)  maybe _in the keep of time_ by margaret jean anderson?  even though i reread it recently I don't remember it well, but it's a fairly dark YA novel about 4 siblings who are exploring an ancient scottish tower and end up first back in time (during the battle of flodden, I think?), and then in the future.  from 1977.  I don't specifically remember the 'swimming through earth' but that sounds very familiar.
John White, The Tower of Geburah, 1978. This might be The Tower of Geburah by John White.  I'm not sure about the swimming through the earth part, because it's been many years since I've read it and I don't own a copy to check, but I think the rest of the description fits.



C343: Children enter magical land with a knife
Solved: The Amazing Vacation


C344: Cuban grandmother
What I am looking for is a YA book probably published in the 60s (possibly 50s) about a teen girl who is sent to visit her Cuban grandmother (as I recall). She suffers from major culture shock and homesickness, her girl cousin sneers at her and Americans in general, characterizing them as the type of people who put white sauce on all their food. There is some kind of political activity involving a friend of the cousins (hint of a love interest, though as it's YA it's all very innocent), who is participating in some kind of clandestine (revolutionary?) activity. Some danger of him being found out near the end, where heroine who is not supposed to know about any of this somehow gets involved and either helps him get away or helps protect him from exposure. The heroine's name MIGHT be Jennifer. I thought this might be a Betty Cavanna, but haven't been able to find any indication that it really is.

Marjorie Vetter, Journey for Jennifer, 1954. This is a guess - here's the only description I could find: Jennifer could feel her face stiffen as she watched Steve say good-by to the others. Didn'\''t their dates on board the ship to Havana mean anything to him? Wasn"t he going to miss her at all when she was in the hill country?



C345: Caribbean island
Solved: The Cay


C346: carousel horses come to life and return to wood under blackthorn trees in a full moon
I hope you can help I've been looking for this book for years! The carousel/merry-go-round is about to be torn down and destroyed, the carousel horses don't want to be destroyed and are brought to life (I can't remember how or who by!) however they are told that if real life gets too much they can return to their wooden form by going to sleep under blackthorn/hawthorn trees on the night of a full moon. It is quite a sad novel although it is meant for children. I remember that one horse returns to wood but is found by a farmer who turns it into a rocking horse for his children and the horse is happy again. It is not a picture book and I suppose it must have been written in the late 60's to late 80's. Any help you can give would be hugely appreciated.

No answer yet, but this stumper sounds similar to stumper T207.


C347: coyote can't capture pairie dog that pops from hole to ho
Solved: Peter Picket Pin


C348: children turn into birds eat nuts man into tree
Solved: Magic in the Park


C349:  Candy's sail to independence
Solved: Sea Sprite


C350: Children's machinery book - 1930s
Solved: Number 9 - The Little Fire Engine


C351: Concertina and toothache stories
I am looking for a book I had as a kid in the late 70s-80s. It may have been published by a publisher like Scholastic.  It was about a little girl who lived with her grandfather and got into mischeif. Someone played the concertina, either the girl or the grandfather. I beleive the title included the name of the girl. Also there were small illustrations inside the book at the beginnings of each story/chapter. One story was about the concertina, one was about a toothache. The book was regular paperback sized. Not quality paperback.

C351 You can't believe how many Google entries have concertina and toothache in them I gave up halfway thru.



C352: Chinese girl eats watermelon seeds
I read this book in the late 1950s or early 1960s.  I remember that I enjoyed the book -- it was not a big book -- and that the little girl ate watermelon seeds as a treat.  There may have been some reference to peach blossoms.

Have you tried any of Eleanor Frances Lattimore's (1904-1986) books?  She was born in China, spent her early years there, and that's reflected in a number of her children's books, which she also illustrated.
Lattimore, Eleanor F., Little Pear, 1931. A possibility--Little Pear has two sisters.
The story was definitely centered around a young girl so I do not believe that the correct answer is LITTLE PEAR although I will read the book to see.
Jade Snow Wong, Fifth Chinese Daughter. Not sure, but it sounds similar.
Thomas Handforth, Mei Li, 1938.  This reminded me of a story in one of the Through Golden Windows books.  A little Chinese girl has adventures at a New Year's fair.  I didn't see a reference to watermelon seeds, but they could have been in the original book.



C353: Cat and dog have series of adventures
Solved: The Adventures of Brownie and Puff


C354: Children's Land
Solved: The Children's Blue Bird


C355: Charley
Solved:  The Girl Who Ran Away / Charley


C356: Christmas story about a family of mice
christmas story about a mouse family.  Had it on a record in the early 1980's, but I think it was a read-along book with a record, but I cannot remember the book so I may be wrong about that.  Story took place the day/night before christmas.  The mice lived in the house of a human family and they had to collect things that they needed for christmas.  I mostly can only remember sound effects (sound of wind, cookies being made,etc.)  Not sure if this is the right site for this type of query, but I am hitting dead ends everywhere else.

Walt Disney, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, 1976, copyright.  This description reminded me of a television animation 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974, Rankin/Bass).  A soundtrack record of this cartoon was released by Walt Disney in 1976.  The website http://www.vinylencore.com/Religious-Misc-database.htm sells a copy of that Disneyland record (complete story and original soundtrack, narrated by Joel Grey).  Also, maybe just listening to the soundtrack of the cartoon on DVD would help determine if this is the record remembered from the early 1980's.
Kathleen Daly, Christmas Joys, 1980. At Christmastime, Mr. and Mrs. Mouse take their new baby, Chris Mouse, around the house and town to show him the joys of Christmas.  They see a snowman, a creche, and the wreath on the front door, and then go in the house to watch tbe people there bake cookies, decorate the tree, wrap presents, write cards, listen to carollers, etc., and explain it all to Chris. Next morning Santa has come and left gifts for both mouse and people families.  This has been reprinted several times since 1980  I have often read it to my preK class.  It is a Rand McNally Junior Elf book.


C357: Civil War belle
Solved: Jane Hope


C358: cat drinks beer
Adult mystery, I read in late 1960's, woman goes in search of her younger sister, takes her beer-drinking cat along.  She raised her sister and threw her a wedding when she married.  Woman gets pleurisy and has to be taped up and she's in pain while searching.  I remember this because I had to look up pleurisy.  When she finally finds the sister, it turns out that the sister is the 'bad guy.'

C359: Children solve puzzles to save missing parents
Solved: The Diamond in the Window


C360: Children Underwater Cave Treasure
Searching for a book that has to do with children (not sure how many) that go exploring (perhaps in a little boat) and discover an entrance that they have to swim underwater through and come up in a cave where there is treasure. Sorry it is sketchy, but it is actually a book that my sister remembers that I want to surprise her with so can't get more details. HELP ME!

Patricia Lauber, Adventure at Black Rock Cave?  Synopsis:  A young boy and girl see lights at night on an offshore island, row out to the island and discover a cave, and eventually, during a storm, solve the question of what is going on out there.
Kahn, James, The Goonies, 1985.  There was a novelization published of The Goonies, based upon the 1985 Steven Spielberg film.  Is that what you're thinking of?
Hello again. I'm afraid that it is not The Goonies or Black Rock Cave. I actually bought Black Rock Cave a couple of years ago, but it was a cave that was entered from above and not under the water.  My sister also mentioned that she thought someone in the book was perhaps from Scotland or it took place in Scotland. And she had a vague memory that it was from someone with 3 names (like Robert Louis Stevenson perhaps).
Elizabeth Heppner, Palace Under the Sea Probably not it, but just in case...about Tracy, an American boy in Turkey (military family) and his Turkish friends who discover treasure (and an underwater palace) lost ages ago in an earthquake. Tracy is a diver, and does swim up into the palace.
Susan Cooper, Over Sea, Under Stone, 1970-1980.  Could it be this book?  Three children, Barnaby and his older sister (I think her name is Jane) and brother, hunt for the Grail of King Arthur in an undersea cave at the bottom of a cliff in Cornwall, in England, with the help of their Uncle Merry (Merriman Lyon).
Again, I'm afraid that Palace Under the Sea is not the correct book.  I got some more details out of my sister and it definately took place in Scotland and there were 4 children (or young adults, possibly) in it (at least 2 are girls).  It was in a book that had 2 stories by the same author.  At least two of the children in it are actually from Scotland and it takes place in the late 1800's or early 1900's. I'll let you know if I get more information and thanks, again.
susan cooper, over sea, under stone, 1965.  three kids, simon, jane, and barney, find a map that eventually leads them to a search for an underwater cave (though they finally reach it at low tide, when they can just wade in). inside, they find a goblet that's thought to be the holy grail. it's set in cornwall.
No, I'm afraid this isn't the one either, although it was the closest so far.  It was definately a cave that they had to swim underwater and into.  Thanks again though for trying.
Enid Blyton, The Valley of Adventure or The River of Adventure,1955. This third book of the Adventure series (which also includes Castle of Adventure, Ship of..., Island of..., Sea of...) has all the elements that make it difficult to stop reading in the middle: Fast-paced action, burnt old houses, caves and secret tunnels, treasure, and four children who try to outwit bad guys while trapped in a remote and lonely valley. They find a cave with a treasure in it. Not sure about swimming underwater to it. I believe they talked about stalactites and stalagmites in the caves quite a bit too. This is now available as a reprint in paperback with an entirely new cover. ALSO, perhaps more likely, is another of Blyton'\''s "Adventure" books called "River of Adventure". The same kids travel along a river to where it narrows and becomes a fast-flowing gorge. The boat is swept by the river towards a roaring cataract — a "gigantic underground waterfall" as Jack describes it — and the children are terrified of being dashed to pieces. Luckily, they manage to swing the boat sideways into a cavern in the cliff, saving all their lives. The children follow tunnels leading out of the cavern and stumble eventually upon the underground remains of a magnificent temple dating from about seven thousand years ago. The temple was erected in honour of a goddess, and kings and noblemen brought treasures there for generations. Many items have perished but the glorious treasures that remain include gold statues, bowls, combs, jewellery, ornaments and daggers. Could this be it?



C361: Channel Island youth fiction mystery
"Return to Alderney" or "Amaral", 1955-65.  This novel was used in English curriculum, gr. 6 or 7 in Ontario, Canada.  Protagonist was female.  Another important character was an elderly fisherman named "Trawler McGee".  The mystery takes place on one of the Channel Islands and involves a dangerous ocean journey by the young girl.  Much of the action takes place at night.  The book was taught at the same time as "Flight into Danger" and is comparable in level of difficulty and age of intended audience.  I've always regretted not keeping this book and suffering the wrath of the English teacher.

Just a thought, but the description sounds like something Ruth Arthur may have written.  I can't find a title that matches though...



C362: Choices made by children
Solved: Diamond in the Window


C363: children visit tropical island
Solved: Magic Island


C364: Cinderella novel retelling
Solved: Glass Slipper


C365: Cookbook
Hi, I'm looking for a copy of a cookbook that my aunt had.  I do not know the name.  It is very old. The cover on it is black, and it had a construction paper feel to it. It was red plastic spiral bound. The book had recipes and seems like it also contained home maker tips and help.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Cuould this be Taming of the candy Monster?  A cookbook somkewheat geared towards kids??



C366: Caterpillar searches for success
Solved: Hope for the Flowers


C367: cat drinks beer
Adult mystery, I read in late 1960's, woman goes in search of her younger sister, takes her beer-drinking cat along.  She raised her sister and threw her a wedding when she married.  Woman gets pleurisy and has to be taped up and she's in pain while searching.  I remember this because I had to look up pleurisy.  When she finally finds the sister, it turns out that the sister is the 'bad guy.'

C368: Chicken hut
1970 -1976?  My father bought this book for me. It was about a young man (Russian?) possibly going out in the world to seek his fortune. I remember a house on chicken legs (not Baba Yaga). And I vaguely remember peas. Possibly a flying ship? Sorry this is so vague!

there are various versions, The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, circa 1968.  This might be right.  I don't have a copy in front of me to check out the chicken legs or peas for sure, but the book is about the youngest son in the family (a fool)who sets out to bring the czar the flying ship that the czar desires and win the hand of the princess in return.  There are various reteller/illustrators of this book, and I'm not sure how much the details vary from book to book, but that is just a basic synopsis.
This is a bit of a long shot, but all the stories the poster mentions show up in Old Peter's Russian Tales by Arthur Ransome. It's a set of stories told by an old forester, not a single story about a prince, however.



C369: Childcraft excerpt
This is a story from my childhood, printed in our Childcraft books. It may be an excerpt from a longer book. It was about sisters living in NYC around the turn of the century. They had to stay neat & clean, and watched other kids roller skating from their window. They became ill & the doctor told their parents to allow them to get outside and skate. They ended up tearing their dresses, etc. but were much happier.

This is "The family who never had roller skates" by Hildegard Woodward, and it appeared in volume 4 of the old, pre-1966 Childcraft books (the orange ones), in the volume titled Animal friends and adventures, under the section "Wheels, wings, and real things." The sisters are the little Pettingills. Ms. Woodward was an author and illustrator who won a few Caldecott medals. She is probably most famous for The Wonderful Story Of How You Were Born. Apparently the little Pettingills and their perplexing predicament originally appeared in a book about families who had never had... a washing machine, an automobile, a clock, and other modern conveniences. 



C370: Claudia
Solved: Claudia


C371: Children waving good morning & good night
Solved:  Oh, What a Beautiful Day


C372: "the christmas book" semi historical not narrative
this was probably in the eighties, a large 8x11 or so paperback book that read like a  reference book on christmas, but all the entries were humorous, like the elves hibernate all winter and when they are woken up(very carefully)the fingernails are 3 feet long and they have green gunk on their teeth that is actually precious metal filled and other north pole creatures collect it. the back few pages were filled with the sources the author used like"the american society of dentists". this book told all about how the reindeer fly and where mr. and mrs. claus came from and such. i believe it was titled "the christmas book" with a mostly white cover. it was a favorite of mine and appealed to my technical nature then and now.

Alden Perkes, The Santa Claus Book 1982.  "Presents information about Santa Claus and his associates, including how he gets all those toys into the bag
 where Mrs. Claus comes from  and why Santa lives so long." Also has a section on the elves hibernating.
Alden Perkes,  The Santa Claus Book,  1982.  Thanks, this is going to allow me to pass on a wonderfull book to my children.



C373: Christmas children's stories
It's a beautiful collection of Christmas stories (fiction) for children.  I know one in particular was "The Little Match Girl".  There were no color illustrations, only ink.  The book itself was approximately 7" wide, 9" long, and 1 1/2" thick, early 1960s. It was paper-covered hardcover finish was a bit shiny.  The front cover had a very colorful face and chest of a smiling Santa.  He resembled the Santa used for the Coca-Cola ads - very nostalgic. There were about 8 or 10 stories.

Whitman Publishing, The Christmas Book, 1954.  Here's a website that shows the book [broken link].  I'm sure this is right I have it at home--and so does one of my coworkers!  Very happy memories of this one.
The Happy Christmas Story Book, 1961.  This book matches the description and was published by the Ideals Publishing Co.
The Christmas Book, published by Whitman in 1954, has the glossy Santa cover you remember, but many more than 8 or 10 stories, there are probably 40 stories and a few classic poems as well.  The version of "The Little Match Girl" in this book is quite abbreviated.



C374: Cornwall orphans
SOLVED: Stella Weaver, A Poppy in the Corn



C375: Cat on a gray stone wall
children's book from 1950s (not a Golden book) Art in bright (water?) colors with a cat on gray stone wall, bright pink flowers.  I remember this library book as one of the first books I could read alone so words would have to be simple, repetitive.  Can't remember the color of the cat -- but I remember that gray wall and the bright pink flowers.  Was in print in 1965 at the latest as I read it before I started first grade that year.

Linda Hayward, The Curious Little Kitten.  Is there any chance that this is The Curious Little Kitten?  The kitten is in the back yard, and first goes over the fence on one side, to find a dog, then over the other fence, to find a goldfish pond, (which she falls into) and then jumps over the grey stone wall to find another little kitten.  Lots of repetition, bright illustrations, and my kids loved this one, so it might be it.
 Interpreting
Condition 
Grades
Cook, Bernadine.  The Curious Little Kitten.  illus by Remy  Charlip.  Katonah, NY:  Scholarship Books, 1956.  1st  paperback printing. Oblong paperback, rubbed, lightly creased; names on endpaper & fly;  pages good [YQ1999]  $9
The Curious Little Kitten is not the book.  The book was definitely an adult cat, not a kitten.  Also not Jenny the Cat books by Averill.  Have wondered whether it could be a Claire Turlay Newberry book, but can't find a list of the plots of those books.
1950's, approximate.  story I remember is about 3 kittens who always run and hide when called to get their ears washed.  The gray kitty always hides by the stone wall, and the yellow one in the buttercups, and the third in the black-eyed susans.   One day they mix up the hiding places and Mama cat catches them.  Does this ring any bells?  I don't remember the title of the book.
Jane Thayer, The Outside Cat, 1957. I know the person making the request remembered a cat on a gray wall, but could it possibly be a cat on a gray roof? Much else about this book matches. I found this book used long ago and my son made me read it to him every day. It is illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky , and the illustrations are on of the best things about the book.



C376: Classic fairy tale book
i'm looking for a classic fairy tale book i had as a child.  i was born in 1968 so im guessing the book was published in the 60's or 70's possibly earlier.  it was a green hardcover book, the inside of the front cover and back cover had an ivy or viney look.  it had at least 12 tales so the book was at least 150 pages +.  i remember one of hansel and gretels color illustrations; hansel was in a bird like cage, also i don't remember which fable it was but there was a picture of a young man next to a tree and on the other side of the tree was a witch looking lady with a really long,long nose, i was scared to death of the picture as a child.  some of the stories were hansel and gretel, rumpelskilskin, thumbulina, match stick girl, puss in boots, little red riding hood, rapunzel, jack in the beanstalk, the fisherman and his wife, goldielocks, emperors new clothes?, the ugly duckling and several more.  the book must have had several authors.  any possible way of finding out the author and/or name of this book, i would like to purchase it for my daughter.  good luck in finding it i've been searching everwhere

Old Friends and Lasting Favorites, 1962, edited by Bryna and Louis Untermeyer.  The book I have contains the picture of Hansel in the cage. It is hardback and has a green and purple cover. The other stories are Puss in Boots, Tom Thumb, Snow White and Rose Red, Rapunzel, The Fisherman and his Wife, The King of the Golden River, The Magic Fishbone, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp and The Real Princess (Princess and the Pea).  It is volume 4 of The Golden Treasury of Children's Literature, so perhaps you had a couple different volumes with the other stories you mentioned.
Bridget Hadaway, Fairy Tales, 1974.  This sounds very like this collection. You can find more about on the solved mystery pages. The part about Hansel and the bird cage definitely fits, and it does have all the other stories mentioned.
The pictures you are describing sound so familiar - but I can't remember the specific book.  I'm almost certain that the picture of the man beside the tree, and the witch with the long hooked nose, is from the story Jorinda (or Jorinde) and Joringel, by the Bros. Grimm. This story is not as common as some of the others, so might help you to narrow down your search. In addition to stories by the Bros. Grimm, your list also includes stories by Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Perrault. Hope this helps you find what you're looking for.
I have looked into both suggestions and neither is the right book.  Anybody else with a suggestions??
I don't know the name of this book, but I am also looking for it.  It was very thick, and had so many fairy tales inside.  I remember I always hated the Cinderella illustrations, but otherwise loved the book.  If we're talking about the same one, it also included The Swan Princess, The Tinderbox, Snow White and Rose Red, Ricky-of-the-Tuft, Jorinda and Joringel, The Red Shoes, The Snow Queen, The Golden Goose, The Goose Girl....also a story about two sisters who meet a witch, one is mean to her and then snakes and toads fall from her lips, the other sister is kind and roses fall from her lips... I want very much to find this book, too.  Can't understand why it's so hard to figure out!

Jane Carruth, The Giant All-Color Book of Fairy Tales, 1971. I KNOW this is the right book, because I have been looking for it for so long, myself!  The green illustrated cover is lush and features a giant in front of a tree, vines, and fairy tales characters in the vines.  The vine theme continues on the beginning title pages, and each story is illustrated by a different artist.  The subtitle is "50 Best-loved Stories," which is the part I remembered best, and threw me off the trail for so long. You can see it here:  http://www.librarything.com/work/2647288'




C377: Come out and play
Solved: Snow


C378: Children befriend former ship's captain
Solved: Captain Ghost


C379: Canoe
Solved: The Mystery of the Great Swamp


C380: Christian book with ladybugs
Children's book, Christian theme, each page has a separate christian message with little ladybugs for the child to find.

Kenneth Taylor, Giant Steps For Little People.  The subtitle of the book is The Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments.  Each page has a four line verse, a short summary, a few questions and a Bible verse.  Children are encouraged to look for the tiny lady bugs in every picture. 


2006

C381: Candy Tree
I'm looking for a book I had as a child. It contained many fairy tales (I'm not sure if they were the classic ones) but I can remember one in particular that I would like to share with my children. It had a red cover and some illustration in the center and the story I remember was about a group of children that after falling asleep would go to a special place were there would be a tree filled with candy. At first they couldn't reach the candy then the candy began to fall from the tree and they gathered the candy in the skirts of their nightgowns. The illustrations seemed old fashioned but were full color and covered the pages from corner to corner. The book size was about 11x14.

Eugene Field, "The Sugarplum tree."  I read this poem when it was collected in The Gateway to Storyland, edited by Wally Piper.
C381: This has a BLUE cover, but check Solved Mysteries for Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature. The poem sounds like The Sugar-Plum Tree by St. Louis' Eugene Field, who died in 1895. You can read that poem here.
 Tasha Tudor's Bedtime Book, 1977. I thought I'd pass this along in case it's what you're looking for.  It's a little smaller than you remember yours being -- it's 10x12".  The cover isn't red, but the print on it is.  There are other stories printed along with The Sugarplum Tree. I hope it's the one.
Another story that's probably from the CHILDCRAFT series. This series had a red hardcover, and the story you are referring to is the "Sugar Plum Tree"... You can't reach the candy, but you get the gingerbread dog to bark at the chocolate cat, and the cat in the tree knocks down the candy for you to collect. Beautiful pastel illustrations.



C382: Cat detective
Book I read in the late 1960s, had a cat detective with a dog assistant. Cat very supercilious, dog rather stupid but enthusiastic. Set in Britain, British author? Possibly part of a series.

Don and Joan Caufield, The Incredible Detectives, 1966.  This sounds very much like your book. While it does not take place in England, it's very possible you're remembering the English Bulldog character who narrates the tale, and uses many Britishisms. He and a Siamese cat (who does act a bit superior) and a pet crow work together to rescue their kidnapped owner, involving in a climatic scene in a natural history museum.
Freda M Hurt, Mr Twink Series, 1950's 1960's, approximate.  I wonder if the book about the cat detective could be the Mr Twink series of books by Freda M Hurt.  I have not actually read any of those books myself as they are very difficult to find.  Mr Twink was a cat detective and the books are set in England. I believe the hardbacks were published around the 1950's and then some were reprinted in the 1960's.  Mr Twink was assisted by Sgt Boffer a collie dog .  I think there was nine books in the series.



C383: Covered in snow
Not sure if this was a book, but it was part of a school anthology of short stories and novellas, required reading.  Probably 1977 or 78, 7th grade level.  The story was about a boy, perhaps an only child, who continually withdraws emotionally from school kids, friends, parents, by imagining himself increasingly covered with snow.  (I thought the title was Silent Snow, Secret Snow, by Adele Geras, but that book is from 1998 and involves a family with contemporary themes of family secrets).

Conrad Aiken, Silent Snow, Secret Snow
I believe you are thinking of the short story by Conrad Aiken called Silent Snow, Secret Snow.
Cipher in the snow.  I only saw this as a film in the classroom, but it has to be the same story.  The boy gets off the bus and dies in the snow, and then the rest of the story was a flashback showing how he got to that point - that no one cared about him, or paid any attention to him.  Neglect kills.
Somtow Sucharitkul, The Fallen Country, 1986.  This story is about a young boy whose mother has let her boyfriend move into the house. During the course of events, the boyfriend, who drives a motorcycle, becomes very abusive to the boy. I remember vividly images of a snow dragon, or the boy imagining snow all around in order to deal with how horrible his life was. The tone of the book borders on the fantasy genre, but when I read your stumper, I thought of this one.



C384: cover of book black w/ mouse, cake, baker
Solved: The Sugar Mouse Cake


C385: Children go to Venus with uncle
Solved: Encounter Near Venus


C386: Cobbler elf
Late 40's or early 50's,could have been a California "Once Upon a Storeytime" type school book,seem to remember the illustrations in that style.Had a story about a Cobbler Elf sings "tic-a-tack-a-too", also a story about the farmer who gets a new automobile-horse is jealous until he is needed to pull car out of mud.  Last story has seven league boots or something thereof. 

C387: Collection of Fairy Tales (illustrated)
I am loooking for an illustrated collection of fairy tales probably published in the 1970s or early 80s.  I don't remember much of the text, but I remember the illustrations.  They remind me of Brian Froud, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't the illustrator.  This collection definitely included The Princess and the Pea and the Frog Prince.  The illustration for the Frog Prince was a beautiful, long blond haired girl sitting on a stone well (?) and holding a beautiful golden ball.  There were other pictures of elves and fairies throughout the book.  A few years ago I came across another book by the same author and illustrator, that was made up of Mother Goose rhymes and I wrote down the ISBN, title, author, illustrator and found it online.  Only I can't find that piece of paper now!  I know that it is out of print, but there are still copies available.  It's hard cover and I think may have been published by Grosset and Dunlap, though I'm not 100% sure.  It was thicker than a picture book, but larger than a chapter book.

C388: Children grow in garden
This book was about a woman/family who had a lot of children.  They grew in the garden in some kind of flower pod.  Some of the girls had names like April, May, June.  I vaguely remember the clothing of the people in the book as being vaguely victorian - the kids were wearing pinafore's.  I probably read this in the late 60s. I wish I could remember more -  the memory of that book still haunts me!

I've been looking for this one too! (or something very similar, anyway)  I do remember that the plant in the garden that grew babies was called Roanoke (or maybe rowen oak or roanoak) and that word, however it was spelled, was in the title.  The father was missing, I think, and may have been a sailor.  Some of the kids were "real", and others came from this mysterious plant in the garden.  Part of the storyline dealt with people in town becoming suspicious because there's a baby born while the father is gone.  I hope someone else can remember more.  I'd love to find it again.  I think the author's last name was in the R - S section of the library...
Ruth Loomis, Mrs. Purdy's Children, 1970, copyright.  This is definitely C388! One of my favorites, with illustrations by Steven Kellogg. The family makes amazing pies and cookies from the parts of the roanoke plant, and when the father returns home he decides they have enough kids and tries to make them get rid of it. There is a plotline about Mrs. Purdy being up for Mother of the Year.



C389: Chocolate bars
Solved: Great Brain at the Academy


C390: city boy goes to cowboy dude ranch; eats pancakes
Solved: Cowboy Andy


C391: cave-dwelling time travel
I remember a book about a girl who vanishes in a moor(?) and is transported to a different time. I think she met up with a boy somewhere along the way, and they encounter a group of people who were a cave-dwelling type tribe. Then they set off on a journey, I vaguely remember travel through a forest. They happen upon a long-deserted/destroyed civilization which they discover is actually in the future from the girl's time. I think she returned to her own time and everyone had been looking for her, parents/relatives, police, etc.  This was prior to 1986 because I was in middle school or elementary school when I read it, it was a book in the Boerne Public Library. This has been gnawing at me for a while - I thought perhaps it was a Susan Cooper or Madeline L'Engle but none of their books fit this description. I've been all over your site and don't find anything - just a few that are roughly similar. Any help would be SUPER!

Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Green Sky Trilogy?  There's also something Scandanavian on the Solved Mysteries pages somewhere that my sick head can't remember at the moment....
This sounds very reminiscent of Margaret Jean Anderson's In the Keep of Time, so I looked online and found she's written another book called In the Circle of Time, which is described thus:  "Jennifer, an American girl attending school in Scotland, meets up with Robert, a native Scottish boy at the Circle of Arden, a collection of standing stones much like its more famous sibling, Stonehenge. Although they are drawn to this site for very different reasons, the sudden rolling in of a thick mist one grey dawn changes their lives forever. When the mist finally disperses, they find themselves in the future, a world far more "primitive" in some respects than our own, but perhaps more advanced in terms of its values (this you'll have to judge for yourself, but the characters and the issues are well developed and you'll have a lot to think about). The very coastlines have changed and great cities have crumbled to dust. Robert is slightly more prepared for this strange world he has heard tales in the village of the mists suddenly coming down into the valley, with people mysteriously disappearing every once in a great while. His own mother wandered in among the stones as a small child and was found many hours later, safe, but wrapped in a strange, soft grey cloth. Jennifer is quick-witted and athletic, traits that come in handy when facing the perils of this "brave new world." What must they accomplish there? How are they to return to their own time?"
Norma Fox Mazer, Saturday, the twelfth of October, 1975, reprinted in paperback in the early 80s.  The details don't exactly match but it may be worth checking a copy of this book.  After spending almost a year with cave people from an earlier time, a young girl is transported back to the present greatly changed, both by her experience and by the fact that no one believes her. from the dustjacket:   "Loonies, Zan thought, her throat tight. Loonies! Crazies! She had never seen anything like the boy and girl who faced her. Naked, except for flaps hanging down from the front of woven belts, the two of them fingered, sniffed and tasted everything Zan wore, down to her dirty old sneakers. Loonies! But even as the thought came to her, Zan rejected it: there was another explanation, one that made her recoil. The terrifying "storm" that had wrenched her out of Mechanix Park on a Saturday morning in October had set her down in this meadow lush with strange foliage and teeming with birds, insects and animals she couldn't name. Something awesomely out of the ordinary was happening to her, and the two naked kids poking her and chattering in an unfamiliar language were further evidence of just how far from her normal existence she may have been swept. At first Zan cannot accept that there is no way back. And then she finds herself irresistibly drawn into the gentle community of cave dwellers. But even as Zan settles into the rhythms of life with the People, she clings fiercely to her own memories of home. All that she has to remind her of civilization is a button, a key, a safety pin and a jackknife, which she guards jealously. Only Diwera, the wise woman, senses the threat Zan poses to the ages-old life of the People. And it is Diwera who takes it upon herself to rid the People of Zan."
This is not the Green-sky trilogy or "Saturday, the 12th of October". It's much more like the Margaret Jean Anderson books. Hope this helps narrow it down.
Curry, Jane Louise, Beneath the Hill,1953.This is at best a partial match for the quoted details, but there are enough resonances that Jane Louise Curry's first published story involving the lost realm of Abaloc (in this case, hidden underground in the vicinity of an eastern-US coal mine) may be worth investigating.  The best reasons to think this might match are the underground journey and the author-comparisons.  [There are several other loosely -- sometimes very loosely -- linked books in Curry's extensive bibliography, though few are currently in print.]



C392: Carousel horse
A children's book available in elementary school library between 1972-1979 about a carousel horse that gets off the carousel to talk with a farm horse , police horse etc and other horses. See pictures that were traced (or possibly drawn free hand) as seen in the illustrated pages.

Paul Jacques Bonzon, The Runaway Flying Horse, 1976, approximately.  Could it possibly be this one? See solved pages R. Illustrated by William Pene du Bois, published Parent's Magazine Press 1976. Story of wooden horse on merry-go-round that wants to be a real horse, until he finds out the lives that real horses lead. See solved pages R.
I am not sure if this is the right book or not. 



C393: Charlie stories
When I was in first grade in northern Indiana in 1964 our teacher would read us stories about a boy, I think his name was Charlie.  It seemed there were a series of these stories.  Here are 2 I remember.  Charlie was warned against walking too slowly, his feet would root into the ground.  Of course he wouldn't listen and his feet grew into the ground and his mother left him to spend the night alone in the park. In another story Charlie came down to breakfast with a frown.  His Mother warned that if the wind blew on his face it would freeze like that.  It did and that day his grandfather (or Uncle?) was taking him to the circus.  Since Charlie was frowning the entire time, Grandfather didn't think he enjoyed the circus.

Helen Hill, Violet Maxwell, Charlie books, 1920's.  This is a very long shot, but these authors wrote a series of books in the 1920's about Charlie and His Kitten Topsy, Charlie and His Puppy Bingo, Charlie and His Friends, etc.  The only story from these that I'm familiar with is "How Charlie Made Topsy Love Him" (from The Better Homes and Gardens Storybook), but that one might fit your description.  Charlie learns not to squeeze and tease his kitten after he becomes tiny himself and is molested by a nasty giant girl--so, kind of a moral lesson plus a bit of fantasy.
Caudill, Rebecca, Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley?, 1960, approximately.  Could this be it?  It's been a long time since I read it, but what I remember is that it was about a boy who got into a lot of mischief.  I think it was set in the Appalachian Mountains.


C394: Childhood textbook-reader
Solved: Magic Carpet



C395: Chameleons
I'm looking for a book probably from the late 60's early 70's about 2 chameleons or 1 chameleon and a lizard. They have a contest changing colors as they go through the book.

Lopshire, Robert, I am Better Than You, 1968.  This may be the one you want. It's an I Can Read Book.
Lionni, Leo, A Color of His Own, 1975.  It's not a contest, but in A Color of His Own A little chameleon laments: Elephants are gray. Pigs are pink. Only the chameleon has no color of his own. He is purple like the heather, yellow like a lemon, even black and orange striped like a tiger! Then one day a chameleon has an idea to remain one color forever by staying on the greenest leaf he can find. But in the autumn, the leaf changes from green to yellow to red . . . and so does the chameleon. When another chameleon suggests they travel together, he learns that companionship is more important than having a color of his own. No matter where he goes with his new friend, they will always be alike. 



C396: Cyro boy & girl raised separately by aliens
Solved: Alien Child


C397: Cat helps guards art gallery
Solved: Minette


C398: Children's Australian Outback
This was a children's book that I read in the late 1950's or early 60's, about the female author growing up on an Australian station (ranch) in the Outback. Included were details about her going to an Aboriginal 'Coroboree' disguised as a boy (as it was only allowed for males) and going to the Australian version of a rodeo, with descriptions of  wild horses in 'bronco busting' displays.  I'd love to know the author and title of this book if anyone can help.

Author:  Miles Franklin.  Title: My Brilliant Career.   Date (Copyright):  1954  There was also a movie of this book, starring Judy Davis.
Although this title or author don't ring any bells (and I believed it was a female writer) I'll look this one up.
Miles Franklin was a woman and My Brilliant Career is autobiographical. Here's a description of the book:  This book is a bit like a grown-up Little House in the Prairie but set in 19th century outback Australia rather than the Wild West of the US.  It is a story of a young, spirited woman who rebels against convention and the desire of her relatives that she marry the wealthy and highly desirable local squatter. Unlike Laura Ingalls, Sybilla chooses the road less travelled and refuses to marry. She follows her dreams instead.
Mary Elwyn Patchett.  Sounds like possibly you are looking for Mary Elwyn Patchett.  She wrote a lot of animal stories about the Australian outback, and I believe the title Ajax the Warrior is about her growing up years on a cattle station in NSW.  Originally published 1953.



C399: Clothesline
children's book I read early 1980's about a clothesline and some type of colorful patchwork outfit, I think a shirt and pants

A long shot here:  maybe Mrs. Mopple's Washing Line?  "On a very windy day, while Mrs Mopple is indoors making the dinner, her washing is blown into the most unlikely places."



C400: Charmichael/Benjamin
Solved: Benjie on His Own


C401: Creepy Stories, Mantis, Dog Lizard
Book possibly from the 60's or 70's that had at least 3 kind of creepy stories. One was about a praying mantis hinted at being an extra terrestrial, one was about a guard dog (possible doberman-thor or zeus?) keeping guard after his owner had passed or something like that and another was about a strabnge lizard taken as a pet that ended up growing and could be heard thumping down the hallway.  These were all spooky stories and not happy ones.  I had read this in the later 70's so I am not sure how old it is (I was in elementary school).
C402: Christmas toymaker
Solved: Oddkins


C403: Conrad
find my book if you can! It is an English anthology circa 1940s featuring stories about a boy named Conrad who wanted to be as remote as the furthest star, triangles who choose a God and a lot of stories about toucans

C404: Cookie Book
I called it the Cookie Book and it was my favorite book as a toddler in the early forties.  It was a little book about a puppy that loved cookies, and a cooky factory he hung out at, finding it by following the smell of the cookies in the air. The illustrations showed the cooky smell wafting through the air.

C405: Collection of tales
I had a book in the 1980s, it may have been an old or recent book at the time i have no idea.  It was a collection of tales including - the bunyip, coat o'rushes /cap o' rushes (the story where the girls father throws her out because she tells him she loves him more than meat loves salt) it also has a tale that has beautiful girls/princesses behind glass or mirrors or something to that effect. I have seen books with some of these tales in  seperately but I can't find the one I had with all these tales in together. It was beautifully illustrated and was probably published in England as  I am English and I doubt it came from overseas - thanks!

published by Dover, English Fairy Tales - or - More Engish Fairy Tales. My dad was English too and we grew up with these two books.  I just looked to see which copy it was (I still own "More") but couldn't locate the book.  I KNOW I rememberall those stories.  I still say "I love you more that fresh meat loves salt"  I loved these stories much more than Grimm et al. The heroines always seemed more self assured and capable.  It is Published by Dover and I'm pretty sure its older than  '60's I read it in early 70s but my dad may have brough the books from England earlier.
---
Jacobs, Joseph, English Fairy Tales. I found my copy of English Fairy Tales - it has Tom Tit Tot and Cap O Rushes but not the Bunyip.  This copy is old, published by Grosset and Dunlop but has no copyright page in it.  A preface from author is dated 1895. It is not the one I grew up with (which was published by Dover) The other tales may be in More English Fairy Tales.  These 2 Dover books were interchangable in my memories.



C406: Collection of Illustrated Children's Stories
American 1950's - 1960's.  There were 2 books. Both hard, thick covers, covered with cloth (I think). One was solid yellow and one was solid red. The title and cover illustrations were in black. The books were thick (I'm guessing 200 - 300 pages), with heavy paper (not glossy), the illistrations were in black outline with one added color per story. (e.g: black outline and different shades of red). All the illustrations were done by the same one artist, and I don't recall the stories being credited to anyone.  Contents: The books consisted of different stories. Some of the stories were famous (The Velveteen Rabbit), some were fairy tales (Princess and the Pea), there were folk tales (I remember a story about an old lady who let her goat eat the grass off her roof, and she tied the cord around the goats neck and then around her middle. And there was a story of how some silly villagers in this one village tried to grab the moon by jumping in the river and catching the reflection of the full moon with pitchforks and nets). Some stories were contemporary, (there was a story of a little Caucasian boy who's nana - an African American housekeeper, with wide hips and dressed like Aunt Jemima before she became politically correct - took him and his sisters to the circus).  I really do not recall the titles of these books, (I'm thinking "Story Parade", but I won't swear by that. What I do know is that the type was rather large, and the amount of type per page was not that much either. It was a lot about the illustrations, because I was able to read these books when I was about 5, and I was raised in Dutch, so they must have been real children's self-read books. I'm thinking that the publisher must have been American, because of the circus story and the "Aunt Jemima" character.  I got these books from a relative, and I was born and raised on St. Maarten (Netherlands Antilles) and that relative must have ordered them from the States, so I thinking they might have been special editions from a publisher like Reader's Digest or something like that.  If you can figure this one out I will be so grateful. I have been wanting to get these books back ever since I lost them in a move.Thanks!

This kind of sounds like a set of books I have been looking for. They are children's classics that came as a bonus with the purchase of Collier's encyclopedia sets in the 1960s. They are clothbound, oversized bound in different jewel-colored buckram. Two of my favorite illustrations/stories/etc. were Winken, Blinken and Nod and The Velveteen Rabbit.



C407: Clown steals another clown's nose
This seems to be  the same as C81:  "C81: Clown steals another clown's nose!  I have a friend that has talked about a book she had.  It was about a clown who had a nose that another clown envied and stole!"  Also:  "Bedtime Stories - Burgess --  A108:  ...  there were stories involving people also. One was a story about a clown that had his nose stolen by another clown (stumper C81 talks about this story)."  The nose is relatively long, as I recall, and the clown keeps it in a box with tissue. The first clown tries to substitute for the stolen nose, using a paste-like solution.  As I recall, the name of the clown who stole the nose was something like "Trendle" but I'm not sure. This is not the horror story of a boy stealing a clown's nose.

Jackson, Kathryn, Golden Bedtime Book. (1949)  I remember this book, and I think this is the right title.  It's been expanded and reissued since, as "Richard Scarry's a Story a Day" (1998).  If it's the one I'm thinking of, the nice clown who lost his big red nose tried to make another out of bread and water. I think his name was something like Trundle.
I was wrong, it isn't the Kathryn Jackson book.  Finally got it from the library, and it's not the right one.  Darn.



C408: Cute grey squirrel/funny bunny
Solved: The Smart Little Mouse


C409: Chinese boy lives through war in rice paddy
Solved: House of Sixty Fathers

C410: Children dressed in a monster suit steal pears
Children's book (perhaps from France) about a man who grew the most delicious pears ever.  But when they were ripe a monster started eating them – the man set a trap and caught the monster and it turned out to be kids in a monster suit.  More happened, but that is all I remember!

Ungerer, Tomi, Beast of Monsieur Racine, The. (1971)  This sounds like it must be the book. From Novelist: "Determined to catch the thief of his prize pears, a retired tax collector sets a trap in his garden and captures a beast unknown to modern science.
Tomi Ungerer, The Beast of Monsieur Racine
Ungerer, Tomi, The Beast of Monsieur Racine. (1971) Determined to catch the thief of his prize pears, a retired tax collector sets a trap in his garden and captures a beast unknown to modern science.
Tomi Ungerer, The Beast of Monsieur Racine. (1971)  I have this book in front of me--it's definitely the one. It's a great story--hilarious! Totally charming from the first sentence.
Ungerer, Tomi.  The Beast of Monsieur Racine.  1971.



C411: Children's stories
Solved: The Princess and the Goblin


C412: Children on holiday find magical shop
The book i'm hoping to discover was read in the sixties in the UK and the story was about 2 (i think) children, brother and sister who i think were on holiday at the seaside and they go into a shop that sells all kinds of wierd and wonderful things including vanishing cream that actually made you vanish! I'm sure the shop was owned by a husband and wife and the book was also illustrated.

Elizabeth Beresford, Vanishing MagicorInvisible Magic. (1970, approx)  I think this is Vanishing Magic by the author of the Wombles series. I think I've got a copy somewhere around but I can't spot it immediately!
According to a another book I have by Beresford [Traveling  magic  -  abt a boarding house] the author spells her first name  "Elisabeth."



C413: Christine and pony named Jet
Solved: Horse and Pony Stories For Girls

C414: Chrismas stories
Solved: The Santa Claus Book

C415: Cranberry bog
Solved: The Nickel-Plated Beauty

C416: Coming of age -- Natalie Wood
I found this book in the library a couple of years ago.  I checked it out, read it, then my husband returned it and for the life of me I cant remember the title or the author but it was so well written.  Its the coming of age story (but it was adult fiction) about a young girl whose mother leaves her when she's really young and then returns again when she's a teenager to die.  The mother looks just like natalie wood (but the girl does not).  And we find out that the girls mother had gone to hollywood and worked as a stand in for natalie wood when she was a teenager where she had a daughter (a different one) and gives her up for adoption which haunts the mother and really messes her up.  The girl eventually goes to LA to meet her sister.  I know it was written in the 90's or the early 2000's.  Hope you can help!!  Thanks

This is LEAVING EDEN by Anne D. LeClaire~from a librarian


C417: Children sneak into parade
An illustrated page (or the cover) has children looking over a wooden fence and through a hole in the fence at a circus or circus parade.  They dress up like animals to sneak into the circus.  It is an illustrated book that I read in the early 80's.

It's actually an animal parade, not a circus parade.  They dress up like animals to sneak into and be a part of the parade.
Farley Mowat, Owls in the Family.  the book you could be looking for is Owls in the family in one of the chapters somting very much like what you decribed happens but the children bring there pets along to hope that helps


C418: Chipmunk punished - no dinner
Solved: Three Little Chipmunks

C419: Circus boarding house
I remember reading a book in the late '50s, and I believe that it was relatively new then. It's the story of a young boy whose parents and uncle, trarpeze or high wire artists in a circus, have a tragic accident. His parents are killed and his uncle badly injured while performing. The uncle takes the boy to live in a boarding house for retired circus people, all of whom are interesting characters - I remember a boa constrictor, and possibly a parrot. The boy is under strict orders from his uncle never to think of joining the circus, but his landlady doesn't agree, and sends him to a friend of hers to learn the trapeze. The friend is currently a baker, but used to be in the circus himself, and has an entire set of equipment in a big room behind his bakery. The uncle returns on the day of the boy's first professional circus performance, and all's well that ends well, so to speak. I'm fairly certain that either the owrd "Circus" or "Trapeze" is in the title.

Fenton, Edward, Hidden Trapezes. (1950, approx)  I think the person is looking for Hidden Trapezes, by Edward Fenton.  I also remember the trapezes in the attic, where the boy practices and keeps that fact hidden from his father.  I think the landlady keeps ocelots who have some kind of amazing performance they practice, and there's an "india rubber man" who's a boarder.  The cover I remember was white and orange, with the boy in the center, trapezes flying around him, and a couple ocelots in his lap.


C420: Cuthbert the dog
I read a book as a child about a dog named Cuthbert.  He lived in a house with a bunch of other animals, and they mysteriously received a magic pebble.  When left in their milk jug, resulted in never-ending supply of milk.  I remember it with a simple salmon-colored cloth cover, in hardback.  But that memory could be faulty.  I thought the book was just called “Cuthbert,” but I must be wrong because I can’t find it.  Can you help?

Possibly this one?  Cuthbert by Blanche J. Dearborn, illustrated by Richard van Bentham, Wilcox and Follett Company, 1952, 111 pages.  Definitely a children's book, but I can't find an online description.  Someone who suggested a solution for "D137: Dog who lived like a human" wrote: "This sounds like the book Cuthbert, but he didn't live alone.  Cuthbert was a butler.  My 3rd grade teacher read this to us in 1962."  I don't know whether this is the same book you're looking for, but how many books can there be about anthropomorphic dogs named Cuthbert?


C421: Children's illustrated treasury
I am looking for a yellow hard cover book, no dust jacket, that is some type of children's illustrated treasury.  I know it was extremely colorful, even the cover, and a very thick book.  I got it in the 80's from my grandfather who was the children's rep for a NY publishing company.  I don't know if it came from his company though.  He worked for Penguin Putnam and also Simon & Schuster.  It had poems and stories in it all full color.  There was the story of the turnip that no one could pull out, and the Jabberwocky poem.  The Jabberwocky poem was only a page and towards the last third of the book.  I don't remember it having a lot of traditional "classic" stories or poems but that doesn't mean they weren't in there.  I remember there were stories that were a few pages and some very short.  It was a large book maybe 9"x 12"?  I had this book until my mother moved and threw it out because both covers were missing.  I look pretty much every month trying to find it.  Thank you again for your help.

Louis Untermeyer, The Golden Treasury of Children's Literature. (1966)  Louis Untermeyer compiled a number of anthologies, including the title cited as a possible solution to the stumper as well as The Golden Treasury of Children's Poetry, c.1959, which includes Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky.



C422: Creepy creatures, trippy adventures mystery
Solved: Moomintroll series

C423: Casual family
Solved: The Luckiest Girl

C424: Children, seacoast, puffin birds
Both my husband and I remember reading this series of books in the late 40's or early 50's.  There were 3 or 4 children, in England during the 1st half of the 20th century, we believe.  They had a pet puffin bird, lived on a seacoast area and had adventures.  That's all we can remember.  Thanks.

Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons. (1930)  This sounds like the Swallows and Amazons series, by Arthur Ransome (though they had a parrot, not a puffin!). Siblings John, Susan, Roger and Titty Walker have adventures sailing (the Swallow) and living (alone!) one summer on a little island in the middle of a lake in England. They meet and befriend local residents, sisters Nancy and Peggy Blacket (the Amazons) and their Uncle (dubbed Captain Flint, from whom the Walkers get the parrot). A long running series, and still in print...other titles are Peter Duck, Swallowdale, Winter Holiday, Coot Club, Pigeon Post (a Carnegie winner), We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea, The Big Six, Secret Water, Missie Lee and The Picts and the Martyrs. If you google "Arthur Ransome", you'll find a couple of Arthur Ransome/Swallows and Amazon fan sites that give plot descriptions and various cover art that the series has had over the years (and from country to country!).
Enid Blyton, The Adventure series.  Pretty sure C424 isn't Ransomes' Swallows and Amazons series.  Could it be Enid Blyton's Adventure series (eight books: Island of Adventure, Castle of Adventure, Valley of Adventure, &c)?  Four kids (Jack, Philip, Lucy-Anne and Dinah) and their cockatoo Kiki have various adventures, aided by their policeman friend Bill Cunningham.
If it's one of the Enid Blyton Adventure series it's probably  Sea of Adventure - it features 2 puffins called Huffin and Puffin.
 Interpreting
Condition 
Grades
Blyton, Enid.    The Castle of Adventure.    Pan Macmillan,  c1946 revised 1988.  some creasing; pages good (one group  accidentally creased at bottom corner) -- G [YQ24560] $8


C425: Cloth doll, new doll, wet doll
I remember the story as a little girl--she owned a cloth doll but received a new one, I can't remember if it was a talking one or not, but it somehow became wet and her cloth doll was either unhurt by the water...but regardless, she stayed with that one in the end!  Peabody had been suggested in the past, but I know that one isn't it.

Liesel Moak Skorpen, Elizabeth.  This doesn't fit exactly but I thought it was worth mentioning.  In this book the little girl (Kate) wants a fancy doll for Christmas but instead gets a rag doll.  She initially rejects it (being especially upset that her obnoxious cousin Agnes got a fancy doll that she wanted) but eventually comes to love it best.  Agnes' doll is quickly broken but 'Elizabeth' endures.  Agnes throws Elizabeth into the ocean but she is rescued, dried out, and is as good as new.  More info in the solved pages.
Liesel Moak Skorpen, Elizabeth. This might be worth a look. The little girl in this book wants a doll that does something, but is given a sweet cloth doll (with brown pigtails & red cheeks.) Unmoved, the little girl gives the doll to her dog (a collie) who runs off into the garden with it. Later, the little girl feels great remorse & goes out to find the doll-- wet but unhurt. She names the doll Eliabeth & realizes that the doll can do anything that the little girl can. Beautiful illustrations by Martha Alexander.
Lois Meyer, The Store-Bought Doll. (1983)  Sounds like it could be this one.  "Christina receives her first store-bought doll and finds her old rag doll superior in a number of ways." It's a Little Golden Book.
Little Golden Book, The Store Bought Doll.  This sounds so much like The Store Bought Doll, a Little Golden Book, book. The little girl lives in the country and has a few treasured toys, her favorite being a cloth rag-doll. One day a man with a shiny new automobile has car trouble and the girl's dad helps fix it. He comes back with a present for the girl in order to thank her parents. In my old book the little girl had brownish-red hair, the cloth doll looked similar to a raggety Ann, and the new doll had blond hair a pink dress and blue eyes that open and close. The old doll is left on the steps while the new doll is dressed and undressed, hair brushed and other wise fiddled with. But the girl cannot climb the tree with the doll for fear of dropping and breaking her, She cannot give a wheelbarrow ride to the doll for fear of getting her wet and dirty, etc. At night the girl returns for the rag-doll she left on the steps so she can sleep with it, but the fancy doll has to do with a chair in the corner of the room.
I haven't read this, as it is rare and exceedingly expensive, but another possibility is Cotton Top by Jean O'Neill.  Here's a description: "The story was about a poor little girl [from the Blue Ridge Mountains] whose mom had made her a doll that she loved. Someone later gave her a store bought china doll dressed in fancy clothes and she stopped playing with her handmade doll. After trying to do the same things with her new doll as her old one she realized that although her new doll was lovely, it didn't have nearly the play value or love attached to it as her original doll. This story is very similar to a Little Golden Book called The Store-bought Doll written by Lois Meyer."  You can see a picture of the cover here; click on the book cover, and you'll see a few pages from the inside of the book.
 Interpreting
Condition 
Grades
Meyer, Lois; adapted from Clara Louise Grant.  The Store-Bought  Doll.  illus by Ruth Sanderson.  1983.  boards; a bit of wear; removable tag; pages good. -- G [WQ5421] $4

Clyde Robert Bulla, Open the Door and See All the People/ renamed The Toy House Dolls, 1972. This sounds like a book I loved - and still have. It's the story of two little girls and their mom. House burns down, and all their toys as well. When they move to a new place to live, they find The Toy House, where the toys can be checked out like a library. The youngest daughter (Teenie) falls in love with a doll, whose face is later licked off by a dog. She takes it back to The Toy House expecting big trouble. Instead, they repaint the face and let her keep it forever.

C426: Cats and flying rocking chair
Solved: The Kingdom of  Carbonel


C427: Coach tour mystery series
I read this book in 2001 while living in Scotland.  It was about a young woman on a bus coach tour throughout northen Scotland.  It was supposed to be the first in a series.  It was a paperback and would be called a cozy.  It is not the Passport to Peril Series.  Thanks.

Elizabeth Peters, Legend in Green Velvet. (1976)  This sounds a bit like Legend in Green Velvet by Elizabeth Peters, original published in 1976, its still in print. Though Peters has written many mysteries, this particular book wasn't part of a series. Well worth a read, even if not the book in question!
This is not an Elizabeth Peters book.  The female character was traveling on a bus tour in the Highlands and Edinburgh.


C428: Caro and her brother, wheelchair, garden
SOLVED: Meriol Trevor, The Rose Round.



C429: Children's Russian Tea
 I think I read this book in the early to mid 90s.  It was a paperback children's book with pictures.  It was Russian and I think it was called something like "The Tzar (Czar) Makes Tea" but I've tried every combination of keywords and can't find it.  It went through the elaborate process of making tea for the Tzar using an enormous samover.  The ritual was beautiful to me even before I was allowed to drink tea. Thanks for your help!

Children's Russian Tea  - Maybe How the Tsar Drinks Tea by Benjamin Elkin (1971).  "A peasant's song comparing himself to the Tsar brings him an audience with the ruler."



C430: Chocolate Mudpie
Solved: Chocolate Mud Cake


C431: Catalogue company, female workers
Solved: Fanny Herself


C432: City under the sea
This book is about a boy and girl who travel in a bubble to a city under the sea.

Could this be one of Gordon Dickson's books?  There are three that I remember: Secret Under the Sea, Secret Under Antarctica, and Secret Under the Caribbean.  The first one is about a boy named Robby with a pet dolphin who lives in the future (2013!) at a reasearch station with his father.  Vandals try to take over when he's alone, and he manages to escape and rescue his dolphin friend and save his father from one of the vandals, who has a grudge. It was written in the early 60s.  I think there was a girl in one of the later ones, and they definitely traveled in a kind of bubble ship but it's been so long my memory of it isn't that clear...  Good luck!
Ruth Nichols, The Marrow of the World, 1972, approximately.  There is a chapter that fits the description in this book. The main characters are two teenagers, a boy and his counsin Linda, who have 'fallen into' a Arthurian world. They visit the ruins of the castle of Morgaine Le Fay under a lake, protected in a bubble and guided by a merman. It's only a chapter though, not the entire book.
 You Will Live Under the Sea, 1965. This was a book about how in the future a city would be beneath the sea
 the little boy was taken on a tour of it in a sea-bubble boat. I think it was supposed to be non-fiction-ish. It was green/blue. The publisher was the same one who published the Dr. Seuss books.'



C433: Children turning into fish
Solved: The Thief of Always


C434: Children's Almanac
Solved: The Kids' Diary of 365 Amazing Days


C435: Cinderella Book
I am looking for a Cinderella book made probably late 70's early 80's. The illustrations (some b/w and some color) are the most intricate and beautiful I have ever seen. The opening page begins "Once upon a time there was a gentleman who married for the second time." I think it is one I purchased from a book fair at school and I've loved it so much the covers and pertinent info is gone! Help!

Perrault's Fairy Tales,"Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper", 1729.  The first sentence starts out: "THERE was once upon a time, a gentleman who married for his second wife the proudest and most haughty woman that ever was known."
It's not Perraults, though the wording is very similar....I'm more interested in the illustrator!
Could the illustrator be Michael Hague? I'm trying to think of other illustrators from around that time period that are known for detailed and intricate work---Trina Schart Hyman, Lisbeth Zwerger and PJ Lynch come to mind, but not sure if they've done "Cinderella".
McCall's Storytime Treasury Series, 1969.  Very often when people are looking for fairy tale books with beautiful illustrations, they are remembering this series, which is described in depth on the "Solved Mysteries" page under the heading "Storytime Treasury."
Charles Perrault, though translated, adapted, and illustrated by Errol Le Cain, Cinderella, circa 1974.  This fits the description given of the very intricate illustrations, alternating color with black and white illustrations throughout the book. The text was translated from Perrault and slightly shortened. The first lines of text are as follows: Once upon a time there was a gentleman who married for the second time. His new wife was a very proud, haughty woman, and her daughters were exactly like her. Her husband had a daughter of his own, a girl of wonderful goodness and gentleness...
Charles Perrault, Perrault's Fairy Tales, 1998, reprint.  It may be this book, illustrated by Edmund Dulac.  The book was illustrated in 1912 but has been reprinted many times.  I just bought a copy printed in 2003.  The Cinderella story begins " Once upon a time there lived a gentleman who married twice." The illustrations are beautiful.



C436: Child's book, Printed in Purple, Forest with grapes hanging
I LOVED this book as an elementary student in the mid 60's- I checked it out of the library a few times a year.  All I can remember is the end which was a picture of a forest with grape-like fruit hanging down from the trees.  That picture showed that the person was coming out of the forest - I remember that it made me feel very happy.  The book was printed in purple ink and I remember loving the SMELL of the book.  It was an over-sized book (bigger than Dr Suess)  It was NOT harold and the purple crayon (but I loved that book too!) ANYONE remember the title?? THANKS SO MUCH!!

Marie Hall Ets, In the Forest  This is a very long shot, because I haven't seen any copies of this that are printed in purple, and I don't have it here to look at the last page--but if you look at the cover of the book on Amazon, you might be able to tell if they're the right kind of trees.  It starts out "I had a new horn and a paper hat, and I went for a walk in the forest."  Along the way the boy meets several animals who join in behind him, but they all disappear at the end when his father shows up to take him home.



C437: Child's activity book
I'm searching for a children's activity book.  It had puzzles, games, and (I remember this vividly) pictures to trace. This book was given to me by my father in the mid-60's. I'm sure he got it at a second hand store.  The book was hardbound and shiny, the backround color of the cover was bright green. It may have the word "Fairy" in the title.

C438: Cat who can talk follows children home
I read this book when around 1986, although I remember thinking it was old back then, so it was probably published much earlier.  I remember a stray cat following home some children in a park.  When they get home, their mother feeds it a slice of pot roast and tells them they have to find the owner.  They discover the cat can talk, or has magical powers or something, and when they bring it back to the park they meet an old homeless woman who knows the cat?   They go to a tree that has a lot of knobs on it and somehow enter another world through the tree.  That's all I can remember.

Ruth Chew, The Wednesday Witch. (1969) The talking cat who eats pot roast is an element of The Wednesday Witch, which also has an old lady (the witch).  Maybe you are mixing up two or more books?  Check Solved Mysteries for The Wednesday Witch and see if it sounds familiar.
Ruth Chew, The Wishing Tree. (1980)  A talking cat, a mysterious tree, and a creepy old woman in the park involve two children, Peggy and Brian, in a magical adventure.  The children and the cat are able to pass through the tree, and come out in another land.



C439: Cave flowers bubble  swimming future
Solved: The Lotus Caves


C440: Compass
My mom remembers reading this book in the early '60s, about a boy and his dad who find a shiny object (a coin or a compass) and it magically transports the boy to the four corners of the earth.  Help!

There's a chapter in one of the Mary Poppins books about going to the four corners of the world using a compass. Maybe it was published separately?



C441: Coralee (Corally?) Cruthers Birthday Story
Solved: Corally Crothers Birthday


C442: Children's Mystery Adventure cir. 1969?
Solved: The Secret Hide-Out


C443: children lost journey candy land
I remember being fairly obsessed with this book from the middle school library that I attended in Wayne, NJ in the 70's.  For the amount of times I read it, I cannot remember much about it but I would love to share it with my son.  It was a rather sad book, a sort of melancholy tone, and I can vaguely recall is that it was about children either on a journey home or children who were lost and had to a make a long journey home through a land (this is my faulty memory here) possibly made of candy-they might have even been on an island, or going thru forests.  It was a fairly heavy big book, so spectacularly, beautifully illustrated, hardcover, and it had a papercover sealed in that crinkly plastic.  It was already an older book when I was reading it in the 70's (thats why I partly had an obsession-the fact that it seemed from another time intrigued me), so it may have been from the 40's, 50's?  maybe earlier-the 30's or 40's.  I am desperate and have searched the net for the last few years, but I believe that the sketchy details in my mind are hampering the location of this book.  I hope someone can assist and that reading this may jog someone's memory!  I would be eternally grateful.  I thought I had found it once, I found a copy of a book called "Candy Land" but that wasn't it.  If I saw it I would know it on the spot!  Thanks everyone!

Hoffman, Ernst T.A,, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, 1930s.
So sorry I don't think that the Nutcracker book is it.  The book definitely did not fit a Christmas theme.  Also, it was a large heavy book with very detailed lush color illustrations.  The most vivid image I retain of the book is that on a right hand page, there is a picture of a girl holding a long stick or staff, as if she is walking a long distance - a journey.  I thought it could be Floating Island, by Anne Parrish, but the illustrations are in color so that wouldn't fit.  Unless the book was redone in color?  Thanks, keep giving me your ideas!
I'm not sure about this, but when you mentioned the woman with the staff, I immediately thought of the amazing Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin and his illustrations of many Russian folktales. Some of those tales have themes about kids finding their way home - but none through a candy land. I have seen his stories in colections and published separately: you can see some of his work online   including a woman with a staff in the woods.
Julie Andrews Edwards, Last of the really great whangdoodles.  This is a very long shot but the children traveling through a candy land and forests and the bright illustrations reminded me of The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.
Louise May Alcott.  Alcott wrote a short story about children travelling through a candy land (maybe land of sweets) as well as a more nutritious bread land.  It was in a larger book of stories.
Laura Bancroft (really L. Frank Baum), Sugarloaf Mountain.  Might this be Sugarloaf Mountain? Two children (named Twinkle and Chubbins, I'm afraid), wander inside Sugarloaf Mountain to a land where everything is made of sugar. I don't remember the book as particularly melancholy in general, but the children get very thirsty because even the drinks are made of sugar, and there is one poor character who is ostracized because he turns out not to be solid sugar, but only cake (I think) with an icing crust.
Could this be Dorothy Nell Whaley & Charles W. Knudsen, The Land of Happy Days, 1938 in the “solved” section? Brother and sister Betty and Jack travel through enchanted lands including one made up of candy and other sweets.



C444: Cosmetics company
I'm searching for a book that was written in the 40's, I believe. It tells a story of a young woman who takes a job at a high-end cosmetics company. The boss is named Simone and the color red is significant.Trials and tribulations of glamour V. real life. Does this ring a bell? I would like to purchase this book if found. I read it in the library as a child and I believe the author wrote more than one book.

Betsy Allen, The Riddle in Red, 1948 (approx.).  Although there doesn't seem to be a character called Lorraine, this sounds an awful lot like Riddle in Red. This was the second book in the Connie Blair series. All the titles had color names in them.
Hila Colman, The Best Wedding Dress, 1947, approximate.  The stumper's description reminded me of a simlilar plot to the book The Best Wedding Dress, written by Hila Colman. Ms. Colman wrote in the 1940's "has written more than fifty books for young adults and several nonfiction books for adults, a few under the name of Theresa Crayder. In many of her writings for young adults, Colman has chosen themes that involve conflicts - between parents and children, among generations, economic classes and political viewpoints. She is noted for the realistic portrayals of her characters and her ability to capture the language of her young protagonists. Her characterizations are well rounded and her themes universal." Although The Best Wedding Dress is not the book the stumper is looking for, I felt that this writer would be a likely candidate for being the author of the book the stumper is looking for.
Marjory Hall, Bright Red Ribbon 1961 This book is definitely Bright Red Ribbon by Marjory Hall.  Beverly, aka Mousie, leaves her boring job at the Pillow Press to go to work for the glamorous Simone at the cosmetics company that has just opened in her hometown.  She falls in love with Simone's nephew, Andy.



C445: Color
Solved: The Giver


C446: Constitution
Solved: Brave Pursuit


C447: Curly hair kid wants straight hair and vice versa
I use to have a book in the 80's   that had short stories in it. The book was either (I believe) a bedtime or storytime type book. I remember that the first short story in the book was about 2 kids - one had curly hair (I think it was black) and one kid had straight hair. The kid with curly hair wanted straight hair and the kid with straight hair wanted curly hair. They try this out and at the end of the story they are happy with what they were born with. Its the only story in the book I remember.Cheers!

C448: Cinderella
late '60s or early to mid '70s.  I am looking for a copy of Cinderella that was my favorite as a child.  As I recall the book was oversized and blue on the covers.  I don't recall how the book began (I believe that Cinderella may have had a mother in the beginning of this particular book) but I do know that the back page of the book showed Cinderella dressed up with her two sleek/shiny dogs and the prince.  I doubt it was a Disney book but I could be mistaken.  Do you have any idea where I can find this version of the Cinderella story?

Jane Werner, Walt Disney's Cinderella, 1981. I think this is what you are looking for -- it was one of my favorite books as a little girl! My much-loved copy was printed in 1981, but it says that that was the 47th printing. The covers aren't particularly blue, but the last page does show Cinderella, her prince, and her two dogs. It was published by Golden Press. The illustrations were adapted from the Disney film by Retta Scott Worcester and the story was adapted by Jane Werner.  Hope this helps!



C449: Closer and Closer and Closer
My stumper question is about a book I read as a child - I think it was a Golden Book -- that had a meat-eating dinosaur who was getting "CLOSER, AND CLOSER AND CLOSER." He left big footprints in the ground. And then he stomps up to the drive-through window of the hamburger place and orders millions of hamburgers. Does ANYONE know this book? I would love to find it and read it to my kids.

Art Seiden (author), Gene Darby (il), Dinosaur Comes To Town (1963).  It does not say "Closer and Closer" but it says "Thump Thump Thump the meat eating dinosaur is coming!" At the end, he goes to the drive-in and orders 60 million hamburgers.  I'm sure it is the book (how can there be another one with a dinosaur going to drive-in!?LOL). I forgot to add that it is a Whitman "Top Top Tales" book (shape of a golden book).



C450: collection of stories and fairytales
This small (5x7) book is probably from the 30's or 40's and is divided into at least 6 sections.  some of the stories are Pablo and the Princess, Benjy in Beastland, The Moons Tears, The White Pebble, and Boniface and Keep-it-All.  I sure hope you can solve this one!! Thank You!

C451: Christmas Victoria
I'm looking for a Christmas book that my mother used to read to us back in the 50's.  It was about a little girl named Victoria (I think) who is given a matryshka doll for Christmas.  She opens each doll and gives one to each of her younger sisters.

Bianco, Pamela. The Doll in the Window.  New York: Walck, 1953. "Seven-year-old Victoria stood in front of the toy shop window. She had
come to choose Christmas presents for her five little sisters. But in the middle of the window was a beautiful painted wooden doll, and she wanted
the doll more than anything in the world. Then she accidentally lost all her money, and found she couldn’t buy anything at all. An unexpected meeting With a little boy who is a Cub Scout and a very great surprise which comes from the painted doll herself help Victoria and all her sisters to have a happy Christmas, after all.



C452: Cat family
Cat family lives at bottom of ocean and runs a pearl factory. From the 1970s or earlier, possibly a big Little Golden Book, size 9" x 12." They may be a royal cat family with crowns, tiaras, other jewelry made of shells. Help!

captain kitty. i am sure of the title.  it is written in rhyme.  tabby went as my good first mate, and pearly and mew were the crew.  i was just wishing that we couldgo fishing if you think we could catch anything.  what a hullabaloo when pearly and mew caught a prize all wet and shiny...
Lynn, Godfrey, Captain Kitty, 1951, approximately.  Rand McNally, illustrated by Elizabeth Webbe



C453: Christmas storybook
Solved: The Christmas Book


C454: Children's bibliographies
Solved: Childhood of Famous Americans Series


C455: Calling all girls
Mystery series from 1960's calling all girls, involved a playhouse

I think Whitman had a series called Calling All Girls...they were between the Trixie Belden and Meg series Books at our local department store.  I don't remember any more about them though!



C456: Christmas tree and forest animals
NOT The Golden Christmas Tree by Jan Wahl.  All I remember is that the cover seemed so beautiful to me, almost glowing, of a Christmas tree outdoors (maybe with candles and decorations) and forest animals (squirrels? a variety) who had decorated it.  I think it was just a fairly short picture book.  I was in elementary school when I checked it out, in the early-mid 80's, and I don't think it was brand new then, so maybe a 70's book?

Rosenburg, Amya, The Biggest, Most Beautiful Christmas Tree, Golden, 1985.  "Residents of a great fir tree in a thick forest make their home noticeable in hopes that Santa will come for his first visit to them.:  Check Google Images to find a pic of the cover to see if it's the correct book.
Jackson, Kathryn, The Animals' Merry Christmas, 1958. I'm not sure, but this may be it.  It's a Little Golden Book illustrated by Richard Scarry.  I think it has several stories.  One is about Mr. Hedgehog, who'\''s walking with his wife (and maybe some other family members) in a village and finds an apple in the snow, which he presents to his wife.  My memory is hazy, but I think another story involves a young fawn and his mother who see a Christmas tree that has been docorated by humans.  The fawn is fascinated.  When he wakes up Christmas morning, the mother has gotten help from other animals, who have put different kinds of food (and maybe decorations) on the tree, and when the mother takes the fawn there it'\''s covered with birds and is otherwise sparkling (maybe icicles?).  I think it may be this part that the requester is remembering.  (Aside from my general hazy memory of this book is the fact that, while I think the "Mr. Hedgehog" story was definitely illustrated by Richard Scarry in his pre-Busy World days, I don'\''t remember the forest Christmas tree story looking so much like his work, so it'\''s very possible this story is in another Little Golden Book containing Christmas stories.)
Scott, Ann, How the Rabbits Found Christmas, 1961. This is a Wonder Book and was one of my sister's favorites.


C457: Coolidge series
This isn't actually a book stumper but more an author-biography stumper. So maybe I'm not supposed to ask about this via book stumpers... Anyway: The Katy series by Susan Coolidge (Sarah Chauncy Woolsey) have been among my favourite books since I was about 8 yrs old (I'm now in my mid-30s). I recently discovered that the author "was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 29, 1835" and that "the Woolsey family home in Cleveland...served as the setting for the Carrs' home in What Katy Did, and the Carr children were loosely modeled on Sarah Woolsey and her siblings" (website).  Since my husband and I, with our two young children, are actually living in Cleveland temporarily (our "real" home is Brisbane, Australia) I would LOVE to know where the Woolsey family home is, or was, located!

The website in your link is mine.  I checked the census records and Sarah Woolsey's father was John M. Woolsey. (Coolidge was Sarah Woolsey's pseudonym.)  The Cleveland Directory for 1835-37 lists his address as "Euclid St. below Erie St," but that's all I've been able to find so far. According to the Morgan Library of Ohio's website, in 1850 her father (John M. Woolsey) lived at 137 Euclid St. in Cleveland.
Here's a website that I found that might help: http://www.heritagepursuit.com/Cuyahoga/Cleveland301.htm  The names aren't in alphabetical order, but the Woolsey family is about halfway down.
My curiosity has been sated  :-)  and even though I can't see the house any more, it's still interesting to know where it was.



C458: Childbirthing license
Solved: The Giver


C459: Children's deformity
I read this book in the 1980's, it is a christian children's fiction book about a boy who has a scar on his face and lives in a terrible city.  He discovers a way to leave the city and enters a country where your true self shines through and there are all sorts of people who had different marks or deformities who become their true selves in this place.

David and Karen Mains, Tales of the Kingdom, 1983.  This is the book you are looking for. It is actually the first book in the Kingdom Tales trilogy, the other two books being "Tales of the Resistance" and "Tales of the Restoration".
David R. Mains, Karen Burton Mains, Tales of the Resistance.  I believe this is what you are looking for. It's been a while since I read it, but I do remember a boy with a scar on his face. I don't remember many details other than that, but I hope this helps!
David and Karen Mains, Tales of the Kingdom, 1983.  The first of the Kingdom Tales trilogy. A collection of stories about Scarboy, an orphan, who escapes from the Enchanted City with his brother, Little Child. He goes to live with the exiled king in Great Park and becomes known as Hero.



C460: Children combat witches
Solved: The American Witch
I'm looking for a book that I read in the late 70's or early 80's.  I don't remember a whole lot of detail, but I remember there were two kids, and on the way home form school or something (they may have even decided to skip school), they went to a house where there were witches.  They were either trapped at the house or else they were spying on the witches.  I remember a cauldron being stirred or something.  The book was a little scary--maybe not the plot per se but the fact that they were trapped there and being held by the witches.  My memory puts the house on a country lane or something--at least in the country.  And no one knew that witches lived there--maybe the inhabitants were just weird people or something.  Anyhow, that's all I can recall.  Maybe the police came in at the end?  Something like that.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Witch's Sister/Witch Water/Witch Herself books. Seems to me there was one part where Lynn and her friend Mouse went to the evil Mrs. Tuggle's house and got caught there.  Those books do take place in a rural kind of setting.
William Sleator, Blackbriar, 1972. Could be a couple different books, depending on how old the kids were and how menacing the witches were.  If the kids were teens, and the witches extremely scary, try  A boy moves into a new home in the country with his guardian, only to discover that it's being used by witches/devil worshipers.  A girl he meets at school helps him figure out what's going on.  If it's younger kids with more traditional witches, try Sneaker Hill, by Jane Little, 1967. Two cousins discover that the boy's mother is trying to become a witch, but her coven don't appreciate their interference in her witch tests.There are probably more that fit the description as well!
I don't recognize the exact plot, but it could be one of Ruth Chew's books she wrote many about witches, and they were almost always about two children who stumble upon either a single witch or a group of witches, and their tone is usually mildly scary.  All her books look very similar as well, with soft charcoal illustrations.
Roald Dahl, The Witches, 1983.  I'm not sure if this is the book for which you're looking, but part of it does take place in the english countryside, and there is a large portion of the book in which two boys are taken captive by a group of witches and are subsequently turned into mice.  Good luck!
Jay Jackson MacNess, The American Witch, 1966, Published by McGraw Hill.  I haven't read the book in a while, but I do remember that it was darn scary when the two boys were spying on the witches.



C461: Charlie's blue drawstring
As a child in the 1970/80s i had a book containing a collection of stories.I'm sure one of the characters was called Charles and he had a blue drawstring 'rainy day' sack/bag filled with different objects. Im also sure there was a story where someone was 'as small as a pin' I remember them helping with cooking.

Ruth Ainsworth, Lucky Dip.  This is a collection of Ruth Ainsworth's short stories for children and I am fairly sure one of them is the one about Charles and his 'useful bag'. This probably came from one of her 1950s collections, Charles Stories and Some Others or More Charles Stories. Originally written for the radio programme "Listen With Mother", I believe.



C462: Children's verses
I remember having the book when I was very young so I'm certain it was published before 198O, probably much earlier. It was full of children's verses and illustrations. The illustations were mainly of children with very round faces and pink circles for cheeks. The weren't like charactures. The only poem I definitely remember is Babes in the Woods. There were various other verses/poems; however, they weren't your typical Mother Goose Rhymes. I believe each verse had an authors name below it and I vaguely remember Christina Rossetti being one of the authors. The book itself was hardcover and oversized, but not very thick. I believe the cover was gray, but I may be mistaken.

I bet it's a book illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa.  If you go to Google Images and do a search with her name, you'll see covers of books that she illustrated.  One of them is mostly gray with a part of a tree trunk on the side and and angel/fairy floating.
or visit Loganberry's Most Requested pages for Fujikawa.
Gyo Fujikawa, Oh, What a Busy Day,1976.  This is the book: it contains a short selection by Christina Rosetti about the old woman in the lane, and it also has the Babes in the Woods poem.  Currently out of print but WORTH the time and money to track down--a true classic.
 Interpreting
Condition 
Grades
Fujikawa, Gyo.  Oh, What a Busy Day!  Grosset & Dunlap, 1976, 1986 edition.   Quite edgeworn, badly taped spine and hinges, well read and well worn.  P.  [EQ3052]  $8



C463: Christmas for the birds
Solved: Snowbound with Betsy


C464: Childrens' adventure down a river
I believe this was published in mid-late 70s or early 80s.  It is the story of children in a family (I THINK 3 of them (2 girls & a boy?)- altho I know one was named Bridget for sure)who leave a farmhouse where they are staying on moor ponies and follow a river for some time, with many adventures.  I think they meet up with another child/children at some point.  They also spend some time on a raft going down the river.  I loved this book and hope to find it again.  It is not a picture book, but a full length novel.

Katherine Hull and Pamela Whitlock, The Far Distant Oxus.  Sounds like this classic, see solved mysteries E-F.
Thank you - the minute I saw the title I remembered the book.  I must have rec'd the 1969 reprint edition.
 Interpreting
Condition
Grades
Hull, Katharine; Whitlock, Pamela.  The Far-Distant Oxus [abridged edition].  Afterword by Arthur Ransome, cover illusustration by Karl W Stuecklen.  Macmillan, 1969 1st printing thus.  exlibrary.  VG/VG [WHQ24605]  $20



C465: Cow in the silo
Miss O'Gradys Cow, 1940s or 50s.  A cow was frighten by lightening and ran in a silo and could not get out. I think they rubbed grease on him and eventually got him out.

There are at least two books based on this true story:  Grady's in the Silo by Una Belle Townsend, and The Cow In The Silo: Grady's Funny Adventure, by Patricia Goodell (Wonder Books, 1950). Now I am almost sure that we had the 1950 book, but with a different title because I remember Grady perfectly (we loved that story!), but the title doesn't sound right.  But I can't find any mention of another title, so maybe I'm all wrong about that.
C465 [from Wikipedia] On February 22, 1949, Bill and Alyne Mach's six-year-old Hereford cow, Grady, gave birth to a stillborn calf in a small shed next to a silo. Since she was having trouble with the birth, Mach called a veterinarian, D.L. Crumb, to help. Dr. Crumb tied Grady to a post so she would hold still. When he was finished taking care of her, he told Bill Mach to untie her. When Bill Mach untied her, she whirled around and started chasing him. He jumped on a pile of cottonseed sacks to escape.  The only light in the shed was from the small opening to the silo. Grady dove for the light in the opening. Mach and Dr. Crumb looked toward the silo opening and saw a few red hairs clinging to the edge of the heavy steel silo door which was only 17 inches wide and 25 inches high. Grady was in the silo.  They couldn't tear down the silo as it was too valuable and the opening could not be made wider because it was encased in steel. Bill Mach asked for help through his local newspaper. The response was overwhelming. All over the United States, people were trying to find a solution to the problem. Phone calls, telegrams and letters all flowed in with suggestions. Curious people started showing up in cars and even planes. Grady was featured in Life Magazine, TIME Magazine and newspapers all over the country. One person suggested tunneling under the silo. Another suggested bringing an attractive bull to the opening to lure her out. An Air Force officer said he knew of a helicopter that would lift 1,200 pounds but it was in San Marcos, Texas.  Three days after Grady's leap, Bill Mach got a call from Ralph Partridge, the farm editor of The Denver Post. He told Mach he was coming to Yukon to get Grady out of the silo. Partridge supervised while a ramp was built from the floor of the silo to the door. The door edges were coated with axle grease. Grady was then outfitted with two heavy halters coated with axle grease. Dr. Crumb gave her tranquilizers to make her relax. While men outside the silo pulled on ropes attached to her halters, Partridge and J.O. Dicky Jr., a Yukon vocational agriculture teacher, pushed. Grady slid through the door with only a couple of scratches along her back. Grady went on to become a mother several times, and she was such a tourist attraction that Mach put up a sign on Route 66 noting her home. He kept Grady in a special pen by the road. Grady the Cow died in July 1961 and the old silo was torn down in 2001 to make way for a regional hospital.  Two children's books have been written describing and illustrating the story of Grady the Cow. The Cow In The Silo: Grady's Funny Adventure (1950) by Patricia Goodell  and Grady's in the Silo (2003) by Una Belle Townsend.



C466: Coming of age in NYC
The book that I am looking for was about a young black boy growing up in New York I think. By the time he was 13 he had been shot, been in jail I think, and had done and/or sold drugs. However, he was able to overcome his childhood and I believe became a piano player or teacher.

Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promise Land, 1965.  I finally found it. Manchild in the Promised Land is indeed one of the most remarkable autobiographies of our time. This thinly fictionalized account of Claude Brown's childhood as a hardened, streetwise criminal trying to survive the toughest streets of Harlem has been heralded as the definitive account of everyday life for the first generation of African Americans raised in the Northern ghettos of the 1940s and 1950s. When the book was first published in 1965, it was praised for its realistic portrayal of Harlem -- the children, young people, hardworking parents the hustlers, drug dealers, prostitutes, and numbers runners, the police, the violence, sex, and humor. The book continues to resonate generations later, not only because of its fierce and dignified anger, not only because the struggles of urban youth are as deeply felt today as they were in Brown's time, but also because the book is affirmative and inspiring. Here is the story about the one who "made it," the boy who kept landing on his feet and became a man."



C467: Crocodile/alligator
Solved: Crocodile, Crocodile


C468: Coming of age book-different types families
Solved: Poppy and the Outdoors Cat


C469: Come In and Put Your Sweaters On
Solved: The Secret Language


C470: Chinese (?) dragon shoots fireworks
Solved: The Laughing Dragon


C471: Cathedral bells
Solved: The Silent Bells


C472: Castle and fort craft book
Tells how to make models of a Roman Fort, the Saucy Castle, and a Maginot Line gun.

Cummings, Richard, Make Your Own Model Forts & Castles, 1977. contents:  A Roman Fort, Fort Phil Kearny, A Norman Castle, The Western Front, the Maginot Line, Castle Gaillard (the 'saucy castle'), Mount Cassino



C473: caran d'ache crayons
a young girl comes home from school to find her mom sitting at the table still in her coat. her mom has wet herself, clearly she has had a breakdown. the girl and her brother are sent to live with their dad and his new family. the girl becomes ill (possibly glandular fever?) and ends up hallucinating that every night she flies from her bedroom window and visits her nan who has died. the girl wants some caran d'ache crayons.   thank you.

hi im the original poster here, and im gutted no one remembers this book, so i want to add some more facts. this book is english and set in england, possibly london. and i read it late 80s early 90s. the main character was about 11 i think. she had a younger brother. the girl in it was overweight. her family were very poor, and her mum was a single parent. when she went to live with the dad and his new family there was another girl there, who did ballet i think. the dads family was well off and doing well for themselves. please help stumpers, this is driving me crazy!!!  thanks



2007


C474: Creepy house visited by boy
Solved: House With a Clock in Its Walls


C475: Crutches painted daily
Solved: The Westing Game


C476: Cat named Pencil Tail
A cat named Pencil Tail. I read this in first grade in 1963.

C477: Charles Geer
 Lost Moon? Missing Satellite? 1965. I am seeking a Young Adult novel published in the 1960's or late '50s, illustrated by Charles Geer. I don''t recall the name of the author this might also be Geer. The title is something like "The Secret of the Lost Moon" or "The Mystery of the Missing Satellite". The novel is set in the near future -- there's a space colony on the Moon, and so forth -- but most of the action takes place on a future Earth that could pass for 1950s Mayberry U.S.A. if you don't mind the extraterrestrials. Early one morning, a boy hears a disturbance outside his family's house: he gets dressed and goes to investigate. His younger sister follows him, but she doesn't get dressed: she wears pajamas throughout the book. The kids meet an alien who looks something like a talking moose: he has huge antlers and is always honing them with a pumice stone. Years ago, the alien visited this region of space and he encountered a very interesting moon: now he'\''s back, but he can'\''t recall the precise location or name of the moon he visited. (I know the feeling.)The alien has offered a reward for anyone who can help him find the missing moon, so now various adult humans and aliens show up to join the search. One is a big burly scientist named Phillider (correct spelling?) who is always causing explosions. Another is an interplanetary salesman who looks like Snidely Whiplash: thin, black clothes, tall black hat, long black mustache. Another contestant is a frog-faced alien who keeps eating sugar wafers and who owns a creature called a Gibbous: an enormous grey blob which can somehow fit itself entirely into the shell of a hardboiled egg. (One chapter of this novel is titled "The Gibbous".) There is also an alien detective from a weird species: his body consists of a very tall pole with a single wheel at the base (like a unicycle) and his head at the top: his head wears a deerstalker cap and smokes a pipe. Meanwhile, all of his "internal" organs are attached to a separate pole, on a unicycle wheel of its own, which rolls along beside him. Each of the contestants has a different theory as to the identity of the lost moon: one of them makes the obvious guess that it'\''s Earth's moon. When the moose-like alien flexes his antlers, he is able to teleport himself and all the contestants (plus the boy and girl) to whichever moon or satellite a contestant chooses. Teleporting long distances is easier for him than short distances. At the end of the novel, when all the official contestants have failed, the boy and girl correctly deduce that the missing "moon" is actually the Earth, which is technically a moon of the Sun. Can anyone identify this novel by title or author? I'm 90% certain that the illustrator is Charles Geer -- the pictures are certainly in Geer's style -- but I don't find this book listed in any reference to Geer's work.

Chester, Michael, The mystery of the lost moon, 1961.  There is a book by Michael Chester of that title, illustrated by charles Geer.  It was published by Putnam, New York in 1961



C478: children, party, popcorn
Solved: Popcorn


C479: Catholic school literature book
Solved: Prose and Poetry for Young Readers and Writers


C480: Corky
I am looking for a book I probably read between 1940 and 1945 about a boy named Corky, who is down with a fever and it explains the battle that is going on inside his body with good germs trying to get rid of the bad ones. Very dramatic, and I believe he finally gets well. Lots of metaphors re outside world, possibly during WWII?

I saw something very like this as a Disney educational film at school in the very early 1960s. The body's cells are shown as little creatures who respond to immunization by believing they are threatened with enemy attack, so they build antibodies (shown as war planes, cannons, etc.), so later, when a real sickness attacks the body, they have those things in readiness. It was very WWII in storyline and general ambience. The film was clearly produced by Disney, so if this is the same as your story, Disney probably published your book as well. Good luck
Harry A. Wilmer, Corky the Killer: A Story of Syphilis,1945.Not all details are correct, but it's gotta be this book without a doubt.  Right time period, same premise (the body is an anthropomorphized battlefield, and there is a WWII feel in that some enemies are drawn as being Japanese or Nazi like), though Corky is not the boy but the virus.  Also, it seems more a book for teens and adults than kids, consitering syphillis is an STD!  "In this book an articulate microbe describes what goes on from the start of a syphilitic infection and what may happen if proper treatment is not given. Those who have read Dr. Wilmer's story of tuberculosis, Huber the Tuber (National Tuberculosis Association, 1942), will know what to expect. Lewis Carrol fans will find delight in the book. The uninitiated may expect information presented in a form that almost makes one feel sory for the trials and tribulations of the villain". Quoting Corky's working song: "Oh, there ain't no match for a mucous patch/ If you look all over the world/The skin may blotch, the liver notch,/The brain may shrivel and curl./But for beauty pure, with deadly allure,/And with stitches tightly bound,/There ain't no match for a mucous patch/From here to Chancretown."



C481: chicken finds ancient city
A picture book I read in the early 1950's. A hungry chicken belonging to a poor old woman scratches  the dusty ground, looking for food, and keeps  scratching until it uncovers a large ancient city. And after that, woman and chicken are not starving any more!Based on my very dim memories, or perhaps later knowledge,setting might have been Italy and the ruin might have been Roman


C482: coup on island during family vacation
Solved: Rebel on a Rock

C483: Cows in meadow
I'm looking for a book that I read as a child. About a bunch of cows that lived in a meadow. On the inside cover of the book was a map of the meadow and all the places mentioned in the stories were marked.


C484: Child stays with naturalist
I read this in the late 50s, early 60s. A Mrs. Molesworth type of book. A child, girl?, staying with a relative who lived in a house cluttered with things from expeditions (he was a naturalist?). Had pen and ink drawings. One was a drawing of his desk with a stuffed alligator or crocodile hanging over it.

Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians. Maybe?  Uncle Ambrose does have a lot of things in his study including an owl.



C485: Camping trip, stranded
Teen adventure/romance - a girl and boy who dislike each other are paired up during a school trip (an adventure club, maybe?).  They have other people in their group, but because they're trying to outdo each other, they get away from the group.  There's an unexpected snowstorm, and they are stranded.  The boy, I think, breaks or hurts his leg somehow.  One of them has a heart condition or diabetes or something.  They have to learn to work together. After they're rescued, he visits her, using his crutches, and topples into her arms.  Pretty sure this is NOT Snowbound by Mazer.

Laurel Trivelpiece, Just a Little Bit Lost, 1988.Not all the details fit, but this book does sound like Just a Little Bit Lost.  A group goes on a camping trip, Bennett Kinnell (the girl - named after Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice) is completely unprepared, and gets lost.  Phillip Hargrove finds her but they both end up lost, and he does hurt his leg, and they do end up falling into each others' arms.  No diabetes or other disease that I remember.  A Scholastic paperback.



C486: Community in tree tops
Solved: Green Sky Trilogy


C487: Children in tunnel
I've been looking for a book I read in elementary school in mid 1970s.  I know that it involved two children, the boy's name may have been Henry.  The boy and his friend, a girl, discovered a tunnel leading from his back yard and visited it regularly.  I can't remember the specifics of everything inside the tunnel, but I remembered reading the book repeatedly and loving it.  Can you help?

This is in reference to the email from C487 called Children in tunnel.  I also read a book similar to this as a child in the late 60's.  I thought it might have had something to do with the tunnel being made of snow and when the boy and girl went through it, they reached the North pole.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?  I am not sure if this is the same book as children in tunnel but it sounds close.  My Mother bought it for me and I loved the book so much.  I would love to find it.
Eleanor Estes, The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode. This doesn't sound exactly like what's being described but it does have a tunnel in the back yard and they do visit it frequently.  It's about two boys who are neighbors who unearth a tunnel right by one of their houses and explore it.  It's a sequel of sorts to Estes' book The Alley.
I appreciate the two suggestions, but they aren't my book.  I'm not able to remember much more about this book, except I have the vague feeling that the tunnel ended in a library, or at least the tunnel yielded documents that seem significant in the community's history.  I do remember that at the end of the book the secret tunnel is revealed to their families -- either the children share it with their parents or are discovered somehow and lead others into the tunnel.
Eleanor Estes, The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode, Are you sure this isn't the right one?  The tunnel does end in a library and the tunnel is revealed to the families of the kids.  The entire neighborhood traipses down there and walks through it!
This is a longshot, but your second clue makes it sound a little like The Man in the Long Black Cape, by Patience Zawadsky? I'm not sure when it was originally published, but I read a scholastic book copy in the 70s. In the story, a boy sets out to prove to his community (and a bitter enemy his age) that his several-greats-grandfather wasn't actually a traitor/spy during the American Revolution.  There is a tunnel, and a hidden musket in a fireplace that holds secret documents that reveal who was actually the spy. The parents (and one grandfather or uncle) play a big role as they're running some sort of town naming festival that keeps the kids harping at each other.  I don't remember a girl, but there is a younger brother who has a sort of unisex name.  Good luck!



C488: Cow, hot potato
large old childrens book with different stories and rhymes, one has a short rhyme about a cow which swallowed a hot potato, it has a picture of the cow(thinks she is called dolly) with a tear running down her cheek. Please please help??? thanx


C489: City behind walls in future
Futuristic city behind walls.  In the 1970's a friend from Finland let me read this so it may be foriegn (was written in english) A girl or boy from the outside finds way in and makes friends with another child. The only part I remember is they go to a store where if you see something you want you get it "tatooed" on your neck and then can't leave the city again.  Any ideas?

Barbara Bartholomew, The Time Keeper, 1985. Jeanette and her brother Neil find some time-transport stones in an old hotel scheduled to be destroyed in a few days. One set of stones takes them to an Amish-type farm community in the past, if I remember correctly, and another takes them to a future where it is a crime to time-travel, and they are held captive.
N. Roy Clifton, The City Beyond The Gates, 1972, copyright.  From the back cover: What lies beyond the Fence? Why do living things wither and die on the other side? When Janey-Ann decides to find out, she enters a strange world where nature has been replaced by machinery and everyone is under the eye of the all powerful Kemarch - a world where she must risk unknown dangers when she encourages the Green Boy to escape with her back to the land of the Trees...  Quote p.46. "But you passed all the shops along the street. Didn't you wish for something you saw there? Didn't the wish-printer print your wish with dye on the back of your neck?"



C490: Cy and Meredith
Solved: True Colors


C491: Collection of family stories
This is a book I read at school, in Western Australia, in 1995. It is a very funny book,for teenagers/ young adults/ older children. It is a very thick book. It is a book about a family and a collection of stories about their adventures, there are mum and dad, brother? and sister? the story is narrated by a teenage girl. it starts off with them moving house - the mum doesn't want to but the dad insists because he is always wanting to move. the dad owns a rock band which are very unsuccessful, they just live at the house. but they drive the moving vans, they take the swimming pool, but they don't empty it, and the truck is tipping up back-end heavy, so they put pot plants in the cab with the rock band guy, and fill his pockets with stones. When they stop at the lights,then take off,  the swimming pool splashes out in a big tidal wave.The story is full of their adventures, including a miniature spaceship with a couple of tiny aliens, who I think are lost, another part is about a mirror they find in the house which has a little boy trapped in it, they rescue him out of the mirror and adopt him, he is just called "Boy", and he doesn't talk. There is also something about a yeti/or bunyip/or bigfoot which sings? lives on a mountain? and is lonely? but they befriend him? There is a big flood like a noah's ark kind of flood and they end up meeting the bigfoot ? They end up living together? I think the title of the book is something to do with the singing bigfoot.  It is such a funny book I hope someone knows it because I would love to read it again : ) The title might be something like "the singing bigfoot, and other adventures of the _____ family?" Something like that, but I don't honestly know. : ) The bigfoot's story is not until near almost the end of the book. : )

C492: Crippled Eskimo boy
Solved: Nuvat the Brave: An Eskimo Robinson Crusoe


C493: Cannery
1950s, A girl falls in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who works in the town cannery.

Marg Nelson, A Girl Called Chris, 1969. This one could be A Girl Called Chris. It was a Scholastic paperback. Actually, she had to go work for the cannery (salmon or some kind of fish, I think) because she needed money for college--lost her scholarship or something.  Also seems like there were 2 boys--one nice guy and one from the wrong side of the tracks but I could be confusing that part with Seventeenth Summer. I read them both around the same time.



C494: City Boy with Fancy Uncle, Tiger, Tall Tales
Black boy in city (NYC?) has a fancy uncle who tells tall tales.  Picture of boy sitting on stoop with giant tiger behind building, uncle with fancy clothes, car.  Someone might be named Leroy.  Uncle might be visiting. Possible moral about lying? Probably late 1970s.  Possibly Parents Magazine Press.


C495: Children with animals picture book
Children with animals picture book. I am trying to replace a book that was lost during hurricane Katrina.  It was given to my by by grandmother.  It was a child's picture book of farm animals and was probably published between 1860 and 1920. It had beautiful victorian prints of children with bunnies, puppies, kittens, and other baby animals.  The front I think was of a donkey with a basket on his back with children.  It was a large hardbound book with a burgandy border,  The prints look to be the same style as prints done by the artist,Elsley. I desperately want to find a replacement as the book was very dear to me.

Eulalie (aka Eulalie Wilson), Baby's Animal Book (No. 860),1927, 1929. I'm almost certain this is it.  Hardcover book w/ burgundy spine, front cover shows donkey standing on the beach, w/ the ocean behind him. A little blonde girl dressed in lavender is seated on the donkey's back, and a dark-haired boy in an orange romper is walking beside them, with his left hand on the donkey's neck, like he's leading it.  A small white dog is running beside the donkey. The lettering on the cover is red, with the word's "Baby's Animal" written horizontally above the girl/donkey, and the word "Book" written vertically, on a slight diagonal, behind the girl/donkey. The book was published by Platt and Monk, and features pictures of pets, farm, and wild animals. Hope you are able to replace your lost copy!
Eulalie, Baby's Animal Book, 1927. Not a solution so much as a follow-up. After reviewing some of Elsley's artwork, I'm no longer quite so sure that this is the correct book. Eulalie's illustrations, while charming, are not quite as intricate as Elsley's.



C496: Country girl visiting relatives climbing tree, dungarees, elbow grease
Solved: A Nickel for Alice


C497: Children's activity book
This is a tough one. I remember a large book with a pebbled, orange, leatherette cover, from my childhood in the 1950's. As I recall, the cover was plain orange, without any writing or images. The book contained children's activities and possibly stories. It's similar to the Junior Instructor books, but a little larger. I've ruled out the Childcraft Encyclopedias, too. This has been nagging me for years, so I hope someone can solve this stumper for me. Thanks!

This sounds possibly similar to my book stumper question. B556.



C498: Children sleep and dream while souls play
This was a book that I remember having as a child in the late '80s - it was probably from the 60s-70s judging from what I remember.  It seems very "new agey" to me now.  I remember vivid blue and yellow as the main colors used throughout the book and on the cover.  It was about how when children sleep, their souls leave their bodies and go play.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Remember The Secret, 1988. This is kind of a longshot, but this book does talk about leaving one's body at night and that this is proof of the soul's survival after death. The story presents Edgar Caycean doctrine similar to that found in books like Suddenly We Were or anything by Alice Bailey.
Boys and Girls Come Out to Play.This sounds a little like a picture book from I think the 70s-80s that illustrated the nursery rhyme,"Boys and girls come out to play,The moon doth shine as bright as day.  Leave your supper and leave your sleep,And join your playfellows in the street."



C499: Children's book with colorful block people
Solved: Changes, Changes


C500: Christian mystic woman recounts conversations with Jesus
I read this non-fiction book about 25 years ago. I think the cover was red. It gave the story of a woman who heard a voice speaking to her (I think he called her 'Beloved') - the conversations were very beautiful. It also gave a little of her life story - I only remember that she liked to dance.

Caldwell, Taylor, THE LISTENER, 1960. If this is it, there's also a sequel--NO ONE HEARS BUT HIM (1966)
Gabrielle Bossis, He and I, 1985



C501: Cave journey and teenage coming-of-age story
I read this book as a teenager in the 1980's.  Its about teenagers lost in a network of caves. I think there were just two of them: a girl and a boy.  At one point they follow the course of an underground river and get wet and cold. Afterwards they build a fire (I think), and then have a "let's get out of these wet clothes" moment, except with the awkwardness of youth.  I remember it had a profound effect on me, one of those books which made you feel all funny inside.  I would love to find out its name


C502: Cow, GIs, tail, horsefly, rope
Story set in Europe during WWII. A cow has had its tail shot off during a battle and is tormented by a horsefly. GIs devise a substitute tail out of a rope, and the cow can now swat the fly.


C503: Children enter cat door and shrink
 Children go through a cat door & become tiny, encounter cat, bird etc that tower over them, picture book - pictures are photographs. Probably published early 1970s. In one picture cat is looking at children through the cat door. Bird may be a magpie.

C504: Chopper, childrens' anthology
This is a large childrens' anthology that contains only one specific poem that I can recall.  the name of that poem is Chopper (Was a Lazy Dog).

children's anthology. I have the anthology on my lap. My copy (which was used when I was a child and contains no identifiers) begins on page 33 and ends on 370, with pages missing from both ends. "Chipper" (not Chopper) is in here, beginning: Chipper was a lazy dog/ He didn't like to run/ He didn't like to jump or bark/ Or play with anyone...  No author for Chipper is given, although many pieces in the anthology do list authors. My daughter loves this anthology, as I did, but the smell is unbearable. I was able to track down a shorter version of this anthology (through the title and author of another story included---Little Hank by Alice Sankey) this anthology is called Big Big Storybook. Whitman Publishing 1955. Hardcover 224 pages.  It has not arrived yet but a photocopy of the TOC indicates that it includes Chipper. Hope that helps. Would love to know the name of my larger anthology, too!



C505: crystal tree, apple tree, girl lives with cousins
Solved: The Crystal Tree


C506: children create beginning of magic
Solved: The Twilight of Magic


C507: cat stuck in boots, ocean liner
cat gets stuck in boots and travels from a stream to a river to the ocean and is picked by an ocean liner.  Address of owners happens to be in the boots and the kitty is returned.


C508: Cathy gets her own bedroom
Solved: A Room for Cathy


C509: Child has adventures in deceased aunt's house
The book I'm thinking of concerns an only child who moves into a deceased aunt's house with her parents while they settle the estate and the adventures that ensue.  One involves a dumb waiter, another lemonade made with soap powder instead of sugar.

Calhoun, Mary, Katie John. Katie John and her family move into an inherited house in order to sell it, but find they don't want to part with it.
Many adventures and several sequels.
Mary Calhoun, Katie John. More about this series of books in the Solved Mysteries section



C510: Colored glass bottles
A book of many stories? 1960s-1970s. I am searching for the name of a story in a big book of children's stories. The story is about a girl and a man who was maybe more of an elf. He has several colored glass perfume bottles and drops them while trying to cross a river. The story continues but I can't recall much else. The girl's name may have been Melinda or Belinda and the Cover of the story book was red and white with pictures. The pictures in this particular story were colorful.


C511: Callie, lifeguard Curt, unrequited love
I am looking for a teen romance from the 80's. It's about a girl named Callie who falls for a lifeguard named Curt at her local pool. He of course has no interest in her and she ends up realizing that her friend Rusty is pretty special. She also has a younger sister named Tessa. I don't know the title or author. Thanks!


C512: City teen, who's into "Weejuns", moves to country
Solved: Popular Girl


C513: Child(ren) keep(s) robot in back yard
I remember what I think was a children's book from the late 70's.  It was about a kid or kids who were keeping a robot in their back yard.  I believe the only thing it would eat was baked alaska.  Unfortunately, that is all I remember about the book.

Carol Ryrie Brink, Andy Buckram's Tin Men, 1966. Could this be Andy Buckram's Tin Men?  I don't remember baked Alaska, but in the story, Andy built three robots a man-type robot, a softer, female-kind of robot, and a child robot. They develop personalities along those lines too.  Then there's a flood, and Andy, his little cousin and a girl from the neighborhood are trapped. The robots rescue them and they all float down the river in a boat. Somehow, at the end, the kids are rescued and the robots float away. Now, I read this a long time ago, and I may have some details wrong. But it might be worth checking out!



C514: Californian high school girls, Alex, Julie, series
I'm looking for a young adult series from the eighties. Unfortunately I remember very little. It takes place in high school (California, I think), has four girls who are friends, One of the girls is Alex, a Japanese-American athlete. She has a handicapped brother with the nickname Noodle. The other girl is Julie, whose relatively new. She has a secret - she used to be quite overweight. I think there were four or so books in the series. They were paperbacks.

Eileen Goudge, Seniors, 1984, approximate.  The characters in this series were Kit, Lori, Ellen and Alex.  Alex's brother, "Noodle", had cystic fibrosis.



C515: Cardinal fairy-tale
Solved: Cappy Cardinal


C516: Castle grounds for goblin war
I'm looking for the title of a book that I bought in the mid 60's through either the Scholastic or Weekly Reader book club at our school. I bought it thinking it was a mystery, I think because the word mystery was in the title. It turned out to be a fantasy book about a castle in a woods where all the people were shadows. A modern day girl is visiting a relative (grandma or aunt), I think. She goes for a walk through the woods and hears weird noises from a cave or something. It turns out they are goblins who are following her. She comes across the castle and a kid (I think a boy, but I might be wrong) from way back when, who tells her the story of the castle's enchantment over a number of visits. He also warns her about the goblins in the cave. All that can be seen of the rest of the castle's inhabitants are shadows, until the proper time, when they will become real again and the princess will be ready to get married (this is why I think she meets a boy - he is waiting to marry her, I think). Part of the history of the castle is a great war with the goblins.

Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle.
George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin. The classic tale of a young princess and a miner boy who outwit a colony of goblins in an exciting adventure set in a maze of underground caverns. When Princess Irene discovers a secret staircase at the top of the castle, she enters a world so mysterious she doesn't know whether to believe it is real. For, hidden in the highest tower, is a beautiful old lady who lives among the pigeons, spinning magic thread beside a fire made of roses. But when strange cat-like creatures are found prowling the palace gardens, and Curdie the miner boy encounters a band of embittered goblins plotting revenge on the royal household, the princess must place her trust in the old lady if they are to save the palace from destruction." Another possibility is "The Princess and Curdie", a sequel to "The Princess and the Goblin." These books are still in print.'
Marian Cockrell, Shadow Castle. The very popular Shadow Castle!
Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Sounds a lot like Shadow Castle to me!  Check out descriptions in the solved section.
Marion Cockrell, Shadow Castle. Again!



C517: Collecting string
Anthology - book includes a short story about an old lady and another man who collect string.  The town holds a contest and they unwind their giant balls of string. The anthology could possibly also have a play about pilgrims.

Robert McCloskey, Homer Price,1943. This is the story "Mystery Yarn" in this collection.  Its in Solved Mysteries.
McCloskey, Robert, Homer Price. This is surely it.  The book is not an anthology in the strictest sense, but is episodic.  The pilgrim reference probably refers to the founder's day play that the townspeople put on.  Remember?  "Forty-two pounds of edible fungus/In the Wilderness a-growin."
Robert McCloskey, Homer Price. Not pilgrims exactly--the early history of Homer's town, Centerburg. (Edible Fungus, anyone?) And the ball of string episode is also included.
Robert McCloskey, Homer Price. Miss Terwilliger has two suitors, each of whom collects string.  When the two of them hold a contest, deciding that whoever has the longest string wins Miss Terwilliger, she joins in, with the yarn that she has collected over the years.   There is also a chapter in which the citizens of Centerburg hold a pageant about the settling of their town.  "Forty-two pounds of edible fungus, In the Wilderness a-growin'," they sing.  (The town was originally called Edible Fungus.  There's also a sequel called Centerburg Tales, which you will probably also enjoy.)
Robert McCloskey, Homer Price. Chapter book rather than short stories, and I don't remember a play, but one of the chapters focuses on a man and woman who unroll their balls of string to see who has collected the most.
Robert McCloskey, Homer Price. This has to be Homer Price. The chapter called 'Mystery Yarn'. Uncle Telly and Mrs. Terwilliger compete to have the biggest ball of yarn in the county.  It comes right after the donut machine chapter!



C518: Clues from grandfather for Indian items
This is a childrens book. Some kids go visit their grandparents and they figure out clues to find the items that are in a shadow box type display that their grandmther has. The items are an indian mask, a little pot, an indian doll and something else. Apparently ther great great grandfather went off to the civil war and hid these items and the clues for his children to find while he was away to war. They did not fnd the articles but these children do generations later. There is an old Indian women in the story also.

Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure. I'm positive this is the book you're looking for.  There is a description in the solved section.
Peggy Parrish, Key to the Treasure, 1966. This is definitely the book.  Its in Solved Mysteries.
Parish, Peggy, Key to the Tresure. This sounds like it could be Key to the Treasure the plot is right although I recall the details a little differently (e.g., an Indian head-dress, not a doll). Here's the plot summary from Amazon: "Each summer Lisa, Bill, and Jed visit their grandparents, and they hear the story of the sketches hung above the mantel. The sketches are clues to a hidden treasure, and no one has been able to figure them out for a century. There is a missing first clue, but when the children stumble upon the second clue, they're on their way. Could it be that on this visit they will solve the secret that has eluded so many for more than a hundred years?" This book is part of a series.
Peggy Parish, Key to the Treasure. Bill and Liza and Jed are the names of the children.  There were several sequels - Clues in the Woods, Hermit Dan, and a couple of others whose titles I''m too lazy to go downstairs to find.



C519: Children playing in attic
Children, Hal and Carrie, were inside a big house and got to play dress-up with the clothes in an old trunk.  This book was in the 1950's and was size of a golden book.

Mary Phraner Warren, The Treasure Trunk, 1967. If there's a chance that you're a little off with the date, this might be worth looking into.  It was published by Rand McNally as a Junior Elf book, and a Start Right Elf Book. It's the story of two children (a boy and a girl) who discover a trunk full of treasures, including old photographs and clothes to play dress-up with, in their attic on a rainy day.  Illustrated by Sharon Kane.



C520: Cat solving mysteries
Solved: Barlow Dale's Casebook


C521: Combine colors to make new ones
How colors combine to make new colors. Children's book from 1960s or early 70s used in schools to teach how colors make new colors. Paint cans with colors showing. Is not the Little Golden The Color Kittens book.

Adelaide Holl, Colors Are Nice, 1962. Could this 1962 Little Golden book be the one?  It was reprinted several times.  The cover has kids painting a fence with cans of different-colored paints.  Each page shows an example of how color presents itself in a child's everyday world, e.g. yellow flowers, a rainbow.
Baker, Alan, White Rabbit's Color Book. A white rabbit falls into a succession of paint cans, blending the colors.  (Falls in blue, then falls in yellow, comes out green, etc.)  Finally it falls into all the colors at once and comes out brown.



C522: Cat with blue eyes
Solved: The Blue-Eyed Pussy


C523: Children walking through walls
I am looking for a book that I used to check out from my school library in the early 80's. The library was organized by author and I remember having to go all the way to the beginning of the "A's" to find this book. It was about a brother and sister that some how could walk through walls and even mountains. One of the children even said they had gotten rocks in their mouth because they forgot to close it when they walked through the stone. I remember the cover having a picture of a little girl in her night gown looking through the wall in her bedroom. Not sure of this though, as I have a very active imagination and sometimes create very vivid pictures in my head! Yikes :o)

C524: Cat named Captain (time traveller)
mid 70's or earlier.  A friend of mine named one of his cats "Captain" after a book he loved as a child. He doesn't remember the name of the book, only that it was about a cat named Captain who travelled through time and space. (I do not know if it was a picture book or a chapter book.)  I have asked the Children's librarians at a local branch, and they said it rang a bell, but none of them could place the title or author.  I would love to surprise our friend with this book, if it can be found on the scant details provided. If anyone can do it, I'm sure that you can!

Todd, Ruthven, Space Cat.  This sounds like the Space Cat books, but the cat is named Flyball, not Captain.
Lloyd Alexander, Time Cat, 1996, approximate.  This doesn't quite fit your parameters, but it has to do with a time-traveling cat. Worth checking out, anyway.



C525: Cats merging molecules
Solved: The Looking Glass Factor


C526: Children's Read Aloud
This is very vague, but it was a paperback book from my childhood.  I was born in 1955 so it was probably around 1964 or so when I read the book.  It was a pale green on the outside and it said Children's Read Aloud and had a number of stories in it.  I seem to remember a drawing of a child or children on the outside.  It wasn't a really big book.  Probably around 100 pages or so.  You would think I'd remember something about the stories, but I only remember that I loved the book and the stories in it.  I realize this is a real longshot but I've been helped here before and you have an awesome clientele here!

Various authors, The Read Aloud Wonder Books, 1957, copyright.  There was a series of Children's Read Aloud stories from Wonder Books.  I still have the Read Aloud Mother Goose one.  There is a listing on the back of the book of various Read Aloud books such as Child Life and Stories About Children in Other Lands.
Various Authors, Childrens Read Aloud, 1957, copyright.  Thank-You!  I DO remember it saying Child Life somewhere on it!  I'd love to have a copy of this!  Maybe I can get it here?!  Thanks again!



C527: Crew cut boy solves mysteries with friend
Solved: Alvin Fernald series


C528: Cinderella
Solved: The Glass Slipper


C529: "Cat Cat Lives on C Street"
1970's childrens book named "Cat Cat Lives on C Street". I am not sure of the author I know the cover had a picture of Cat Cat sitting on the railing of a front porch overlooking his street. I believe it was grey and green but not sure. The story was about a family who had Cat Cat and kept trying to bring home new pets like a bird and a fish and a dog and Cat Cat would try to make them his own but the family thought he was after them, the family one by one would say " no cat cat bad cat cat" eventually they moved all cat cat's things and cat cat to the garage. Eventually I think cat cat is missng "where's cat cat" . Eventually he gets his family back.  This was my favorite book as a child and would love it if you could solve the stumper.

Gertrude Hevener Gibson, Cat-Cat, 1970, copyright.  The story of a cat named Octavius Ramos Blue King, but everyone just calls him Cat-Cat. He owns a family, his own dish, and his own bed. Cat-Cat wants to play with young Jane's bird in a cage and her fish in the bowl, so Jane's father decides it is time Cat-Cat lives in the garage. But when Cat-Cat becomes so unhappy, the family decides there has to be a better way.
Gertrude Hevener Gibson, Cat-Cat
Gibson, Gertrude Hevener, Cat-Cat, 1970, [32] p. illus. 25 cm. / Chicago, Childrens Press ISBN: 0516034294 / "Cat-Cat runs away when the family moves her into the garage."



C530: Civil war female cousins
Solved: Step to the Music


C531: Christmas anthology, Christmas with ? & 12 Days of Christmas
Christmas anthology, I think mid 20th century. 2 stories are Christmas with the ? about a wealthy family Christmas in an English manor house. The family gets along so badly the children end up spending all their time with the kitchen staff, a husband & wife who were hired at the last minute. This couple is so wonderful that by the end of the story they have brought about a reconciliation among the members of the wealthy family. Another story I think is The Twelve Days of Christmas about a young man who asks a dept. store clerk to help him find 12 gifts for his fiancee that represent the items in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. She goes out of her way to help him find the perfect items, but the fiancee doesn't appreciate them, and the man ends up marrying the dept. store clerk instead.

I strongly suspect the second story you mentioned was written by O. Henry. If so, that could be a clue.



C532: Children's Paranormal Book?
Solved: Golden Book of the Mysterious


C533: Castaways on island during World War II
Solved: High and Haunted Island


C534: Children captive in pretend town
Solved: Race Against Time


C535: California gold rush, family journeys west
This book includes the line poverty or being poor robs you of your dignity. I believe it is about a family's journey west during the california gold rush. Along the way they encounter a lot of setbacks including one of the kids falling ill, meeting shady characters etc. At the end the father declares that poverty robs you of your dignity. I don't know much else other than it was published around 1940 - 1960.

This is a longshot, but could it be Sid Fleischman's Mr. Mysterious and Company?  The family traveled westward in a medicine show, and there was something about the difference between being poor and being rich--at least for one of the daughters.



C536: Car as main character, black and red illustrations
I read this book around 1965-1969.  About a car involved some adventure and the car was main character.  Illustrated in black and red colors, like charcoal drawings or ?  remember the drawings or illustrations were vivid and different from most books.  hope to find book for son.  Help ?

Lois Lenski, The Little Auto, 1934, copyright.  Classic picture book with Lenski's black, white and red graphics.  Story of Mr. Small's caring for his dear red convertible car and what happens on one drive.
the little auto is not the book, but thank you.  I only recall the vivid red and black illustrations of the car in maybe pastels. There might have been a fire in the story.  I was between 4 and 6 yrs. old which was 19967 or so.
Ian Fleming, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1964, copyright.  The first thing that came to mind from your description was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - the book, not the travesty of a movie they made!  Ian Fleming was more famous for the James Bond novels.  Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang is a children's spy/mystery story with the car flying over the English channel and the family meeting criminals in a cave on the French coast.  The illustrations were by John Burningham and charcoal in appearance, but I don't remember red, just black and white line drawings.
Virginia Lee Burton.  The illustrations sound like ones for a book by this author. Are you sure it was a car, not a train or a steam shovel?



C537: Cover illustration of child with elongated neck
I remember being so terrified as a child of a cover illustration on a picture book that I wouldn't even look inside. I was born in 1955, so the memory must be before or around my fourth birthday. I did see the book in a bookstore (new and in print) about ten to fifteen years ago.  Here are the details I remember: The book itself was unusually tall and narrow. The cover picture was in color. There were probably many details on the cover, but what was highlighted was an image of a child (girl?) with a very elongated neck. Something about that image was frightening to me. I would say the book, author, illustrator were fairly obscure--not one of the top sellers.  I don't know if above is enough information to locate the book, but I am certain I will recognize the cover instantly if I see it.  Thanks for any help!

One of the Alice in Wonderland illustrations shows a similar image that I always found rather disturbing. Here's a link to the illustration at Project Gutenberg. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/alice05a.gif.  Maybe it was a version of Alice in Wonderland (or some other book?) that was using that as the cover?
Alice in Wonderland.  Your girl with an elongated neck reminds me of the famous John Tenniel illustration for Alice in Wonderland, here's a link:
http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/tenniel/alice/2.1.html.
Thanks to those who submitted the idea of Alice in Wonderland. I am familiar with that drawing, but that wasn't the one I referred to.



C538: Cuckoo Clock and Pied Piper
Two children go through a cuckoo clock, get picked up by a giant girl and put in her doll house, then somehow end up with the pied piper and escape back home through a cave.  1950s.

Are you sure this isn't The Cuckoo Clock by Mrs. Molesworth (Mary Louisa Molesworth), 1914?
I have tried Mrs. Molesworth and that is not it.

Enid Blyton, The Queer Adventure, 1961, reprint. Originally called The Yellow Fairy Book - The Queer Adventure and later called  The Marvellous Adventure.  Link to website  http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book-details.php?id=321&title=The+Yellow+Fairy+Book+%28The+Queer+Adventure%29#illustrations.



C539: Car named True Love
I think this book probably took place in the 50's, maybe early 60's. I don't remember the title or character names. What I do remember is the boy drove an old car he named True Love. He eventually told the girl who liked him that he called his car True Love because the course of true love never runs smooth. Also, I remember the girl talking about having pictures in her wallet and wishing she had some of the boy. I hope this rings a bell with someone!

Could it be: Seventeenth Summer, by Maureen Daly 1942 (sweet story of Jack and Angie in the summer before Angie goes to college). Or Jean and Johnny, by Beverly Cleary: Fifteen-year-old Jean is astonished when a handsome Johnny whirls her around the dance floor. She's never given much thought to boys before; now Johnny is all that's on her mind. Finally she finds the courage to invite him to a dance. But the excitement of a new dress and a scheme to take Johnny's photograph cannot stop Jean's growing uneasiness that she likes Johnny a lot more than he likes her . . .
This high-school story, which is both funny and touching, is about a girl who lacks self-confidence, and a boy who has too much.  Or Fifteen, The Luckiest Girl, Sister of the Bride--also Beverly Cleary.


C540: cowboy
Solved: Cowboy Andy


C541: children turn into whales
This was a series of books, although I only read this one, about a boy and a girl (11 or 12ish?) who become wizards.  In this book, their two families are staying at a house on the ocean.  The children figure out how to turn into whales and spend their days with a giant shark and other whales solving a mystery.  At one point, their parents figure out something is weird, and the children tell them that they are wizards.  Because the families don't believe them, they take them to the moon to prove it.  The main girl is worried because her little sister now wants to be a wizard and she is afraid her sister will be more powerful than she is.  I don't remember anything about the title of this book, but I read it in 1989 or so and I think it was published not long before that.  Thanks for your help!

I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you're talking about: this sounds like Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, about a girl and boy named Nita and Kit.  The first in the series is called So You Want to Be a Wizard, originally published 1983.  The book you read with the whales would be Book 2, Deep Wizardry.  Summary from the back of that book: "Young wizards Nita and Kit are supposed to be on vacation ... but magic never goes on summer break, as they discover when they come to the aid of a fellow wizard. Only, this wizard is a whale, and to help her, Nita and Kit must join a group of whales and dolphins in an ancient -- and deadly -- underwater ritual. What they have to do isn't going to be easy, especially since there are things in the deep even more dangerous than the Lone Power, such as the enormous Master Shark. He, too, has a role to play in this ritual, doing what he's best at -- eating someone ... someone like Nita or Kit."
I agree with the solution posted above about Deep Wizardry.  In the first book, So You Want To Be A Wizard, you discover how Nita and Kit become wizards.  The third book, High Wizardry, is about Nita's younger sister, Dairine, who goes through her wizard trial and helps a planet of silicon creatures with a little assistance from her sentient computer.  Also read the rest of the series!



C542: Captain of Boat Taking Bath
One of my favorite books as a child was a book about a boy who is the captain of a ship. As I recall, he wears a sky-blue uniform as he tours the boat. This tour of the boat takes up most of the book.  On the last page of the book, we find out that the boy is really just taking a bath and that he's dreamed up the whole thing.  I have no idea how old this book is. I was born in 1967, and I imagine that I wouldn't have had much interest in this book past the age of eight, so I assume that it was published before 1975.

Sam Reavin, Hurray for Captain Jane, 1971, copyright.  This one has a boyish looking girl for a main character, she wins a paper boat and bar of soap at a birthday party, and while getting a bath she imagines she's a ship captain and the bar of soap, "bouyant beauty" as I recall, turns into a glacier. Pictures by Emily Arnold McCully.



C543: child chooses a bear from a bear store
This was a picture book.  Bright, colorful pictures and not many words.  A child goes to a store that is full of different kinds of bears and he/she gets to choose one.  The author shows different bears on individual pages.  They're each unique and have some sort of characteristic that identifies them  --  for example, I remember that there was a pair of bride and groom bears.  On one double page spread there was a picture of all the bears sitting across the shelves of the store.  At the end of the story the child chooses a plain teddy bear.   This was my daughter's favorite book as a child, and she still talks about it.  I don't know the title or the author.   Thanks for your help!

Dorothy Kunhardt, Kitty's New Doll, 1984. Are you sure this is about teddy bears, if it is not that I think this could be the book you are looking for... "Kitty & her mother go to the toy store for her very first doll. Which one does Kitty choose? Not the doll that walks and talks. Kitty chooses a rag doll that can’t do anything, not even sleep. “But she can pretend cry and pretend sleep . . . and she can say anything I want her to say,” says Kitty. And as she walks home with her new doll, she holds it close and pretends that it says, “I love you".
Yektai, Niki, Hi Bear, Bye Bears, 1990, copyright.  This book matches your description perfectly.  My children loved it when they were little.



C544: Classic fairy tales collection
Solved: Great Illustrated Fairy Tales: Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Thumbelina and Other Stories


2008


C545: Carpet factory, England, Murgatroyd
Solved: Midnight is a Place


C546: Catherine's Bells??/Catherine's Birds??
A girl is adopted/goes to live with an older woman. There is a boy in the story with a withered leg; I think his name is Peter.  The woman taking care of Catherine makes her a pair of pants and explains how much more practical they are than dresses.  Chapter book I read in 1950s.  THANK YOU!

Karen Cushman, Catherine, Called Birdy.  There's a Wikipedia entry about the book: just search by the title.
"Catherine, Called Birdy" is definitely not the book I am looking for.  The story does not take place in medieval times, and it was written at least 50 years ago.  Thanks for the idea, though.  I'm ALMOST certain the title is Catherine's Bells, though there is quite a bit of reference to birds in it, and to a large garden.
Musgrave, Florence, Catherine's Bells,
1954, copyright.  Call number indicates it is juvenile fiction, and title and date match, so presumably it's this one (I've not read it). "Author : Musgrave, Florence.  Title : Catherine’s bells; illustrated by Zhenya Gay.  Published : New York, Ariel Books [1954].  Description : 248 p. illus. 22 cm."
Florence Musgrave, Catherine's Bells, 1954/55.  One for sale here with photo of the dustjacket: http://www.oldsaratogabooks.com/si/018969.html .


C547: Colors book
I'm trying to find a children's book from the 60's about colors.  I remember one line, about the sun: "is a yellow fellow."  Other memories are visual - inner covers were vertical crayons, there was a page or two about grandmother's quilt.  I think it may have been published by Whitman.  Of course, it's been nearly 40 years since I've seen it, so my memories may be dusty...

dean walley, seals on wheels.  this was published a little later, but I remember the line "they turn into yellow fellows" from my childhood.


C548: Christmas book
Solved: The Santa Claus Book


C549: Carousel family
Solved: Five on a Merry-Go-Round


C550: Chest in attic
I read this book 20 years ago.  I barely remember the details; however, I remember loving it.  It is about some kids who find a chest in the attic with old dresses in it.  Somehow, they travel back in time to the same neighborhood.  They attend parties at the Dunlap’s (or a similar name) house.  At the end, there is some kind of drama with an elevator.  I apologize for being so vague.  Can you help?

Richard Peck, Voices after Midnight.
  Definitely the book you seek.  Chad and his older sister Heidi get drawn back into the past of the New York apartment house their family is renting for the summer.  They are able to see some of the events that occurred years ago including a big fancy party at the Dunlaps.  At the end, they save the brother and sister they are visiting in the past from freezing to death when they are trapped in an elevator in the house during a freak snowstorm.
Richard Peck, Voices after Midnight.  The chest in the attic is a fairly minor point, but two brothers and a sister do travel back in time and interact with members of the Dunlap family.  There is a ball and the climax concerns two teenagers being stuck in a broken elevator during a snowstorm.  The  modern teenagers rescue the 1880s ones.
Peck, Richard, Voices After Midnight, 1990, copyright.  "Why is Chad so uneasy when his California family rents a town house in New York City?  Once there he hears voices--late at night, after midnight in this strange house that's at least one hundred years old.  Then he finds that his younger brother, Luke, hears them, too, and even their older sister Heidi's afraid to stay in the house alone.  As Chad and Luke explore the house, they begin to slip in and out of their own time, back to the winter of 1888.  Are the voices they hear crying out for help?  Will Chad ignore the voices or plunge into the unknown danger of one hundred years before?"  I remember loving this book, but haven't read it in years.  Not all the details fit with your description, but I remember an elevator scene being very important, and the family the kids go back through time to visit are called the Dunlaps. Hope this helps!  It's a great book, too, even if it's not the same one!
Richard Peck, Voices After Midnight.  Maybe this.


C551: Chess mystery with Laurel
This is not a children's book, but I read it when I was a teenager.  It was a mystery and somehow the game of chess was involved, but it wasn't technical-- you didn't need to understand chess to enjoy the plot.  I'm almost positive that the heroine was a young lady named Laurel.  I have no idea who the author or publisher was, but it was one of those paperback mystery romance-type books that were put out in the 1940's, 50's, etc.  It would have to be at least twenty years old since I read it as a teen, but it could be significantly older than that.  I also *think* that the cover was dark-- a girl standing in a dark library with chess pieces maybe?

Eleanor Cameron, A Spell Is Cast,
1964, copyright.  Cory is the name of the main character.  She goes to stay with her uncle.  Laurel is the name of the neighbor, and there's some mystery about her, and chess is featured in the book.  It's been some years since I read it (time for a re-read!) but I think this is the book.
Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game.  Not a '40's-'50's romance, but definitely a mystery that involves chess.
Rex Stout, Gambit, 1962, copyright.  A long shot: the girl here is named Sally, not Laurel, & it's not a romance; but it did have a dark cover, & it fits the time period.
Eleanor Cameron, A Spell is Cast.  Possibly A Spell is Cast? It's about a girl Cory who goes to visit her uncle. When she is sick with a fever, she finds a chess set with unicorns for the knights. She meets and befriends a woman named Laurel.
Walter Tevis, Queen's Gambit, 1983, approximate.  long shot, but worth a look. A great read regardless...
Cameron, Eleanor, A Spell is Cast.  Any chance this could be A Spell is Cast?  It is a young adult book, and the main character (Cory) plays chess with another character.  I don't remember anyone named Laurel, but I remember a scene where she is walking through some trees (bay laurels perhaps?) and there is a mountain lion in the trees.  The book is set in California along the coast.
Ellen Raskin, Westing Game.  This is a very long shot, but the Westing Game is a mystery by Ellen Raskin that features a chess game (Theo plays chess with a mystery person who turns out to be Sandy McSouthers, the Judge used to play with Sam Westing, and Turtle plays with Julian Eastman). The herione is named Turtle, though, not Laurel. Worth reading, whether it is the book you seek or not.
Thank you so much for all your help.  I've checked these all out, and unfortunately, none of them are it.  "A Spell is Cast" sounded as though it could be the one, but I read it and it isn't.  This book was a Harlequin, Bantam-type paperback, and I'm 99 percent sure the heroine was named Laurel.  She was also young-adult age-- older than Cory in "A Spell is Cast".  Again, thank you for all your responses, though.
I've been trying remember this book, too, but I recall the details differently.  The main character was a young girl who goes to live with (I believe) her uncle; both play chess well and that helps them get closer.  It is a mystery but I've lost all memory of that part of the plot.  In the course of it, the uncle meets and falls in love with a woman named Laurel, who is a weaver or something else arty, and in the end the three create a new family.  I've coveted a bedroom with a fireplace ever since I read that the main character had one at her uncle's house!


C552: Christmas Tree
This is not the title but is the subject of a book I read in the late 1950's/early 1960's.  The book is for younger children.  It may be a take-off on the Little Fir Tree/Pine Tree/Littlest Christmas tree story.  In this version, a young girl and her father go into the forest to find a Christmas tree.  There is snow on the ground.  There is only a small tree left, and they bring it back on a sled that they have taken with them. There is an illustration of the father (I think) pulling the sled, and animals are nearby. I remember them as being Beatrix Potter types, like a hedgehog, but I checked the Potter Christmas books and it wasn't one of those.  The girl's name might be Hillary, and I think she was blonde. ("A Christmas Tree for Hillary"), but that could be a stretch.  It was illustrated in color, and had just the one story.  Hard cover.

Chalmers, Mary, A Christmas Story,
1956, reprinted 1987.  This is a very cute little picture book, and I'm sure it is the one you are looking for. The little girl's name is Elizabeth, though, and Hillary is her friend, the cat. She also has a dog friend, Harry, and a rabbit friend named Alice.
Chalmers, Mary, A Christmas Story, 1956, copyright.  I also thought of this book when I read the description.  But there's no father in the book.  The little girl and her animal friends do, as I recall, bring a Christmas tree to their house on a sled, but the search actually comes after that, when they're trying to find a star to place on top.  Elizabeth ventures out to find one and eventually encounters the little Santa Claus for small animals, who pulls a star out of his bag and gives it to her.
How exciting!  I'm going to try to check this out.  I'm not sold on the father being there.  I'll have a look and report back.


C553:  Children on Wagon Train
The book  I'm looking for was written before 1985, as I read it in grade school.  I think it is a chapter book, but I'm not certain.  It's set in the 19th century  and is about a group of children who survive an indian attack on their wagon train.  They have limited food and other stuff to survive a winter.  At one point, food is getting low and one of the children (who I think was described as greedy earlier in the book) secretly eats some of the rationed food.  The children are eventually rescued by another group of indians who are friendly, though at first the children believe they are being attacked again.  I think that a girl is the leader, but I'm not sure. There might have been the word "valley" in the title. I LOVED this book as a kid and read it several times, I wish that I could remember more.

Honore Morrow, Seven Alone, 1977, approximate.  Not sure if this is the book but the story line is familiar and right time frame.  Thirteen year old John Sager must lead his six siblings on the Oregon trail after their parents die.  I read it in 1977 or 1978 in grammar school.
Thanks but I don't think that Seven Alone is quite right.  I definitely remember that it was a group of children from different families and the parents died from an Indian attack.


C554:  Cookbook with receipes from children around the world
Solved: Many Hands Cooking


C555: Colonial Georgetown revisited
This might be the same stumper as C203: Colonial Georgetown Time Travellers. I remember this book from about 1966-8, so it was published before then. It was about a brother and sister who go back in time to American colonial times. I believe they go back to an old Dutch settlement and somehow are able to speak and understand Dutch, even though they don't know Dutch in their regular life. I don't remember if it took place in Washington, D.C., as C203 did, but it sounds like it might be the same book.

Caroline Dwight Emerson, The Magic Tunnel, 1964, copyright.  If the story you remember takes the children back to Colonial New Amsterdam, this is probably the book. It was a Scholastic favorite, and reprinted many times. Look for it on Loganberry's solved mysteries page here: http://loganberrybooks.com/solved-m.html.
Caroline Dwight Emerson, The Magic Tunnel, 1968.  Originally published by Four Winds Press; reprinted by Scholastic so it was widely available.
Most likely The Magic Tunnel by Caroline Emerson, 1940. See Solved Mysteries.
Caroline Emerson, The Magic Tunnel, 1968.  It could be this one, although it's not Washington DC, but New York City.  The short synopsis is: "Two children enter the New York subway and suddenly find themselves in a time tunnel that takes them back three hundred years to New Amsterdam where they watch history in the making and compare colonial and modern ways of life."  I remember they meet Peter Stuyvesant, because it was the first time I'd encountered his name, and I had such a hard time figuring out how to pronounce it.
Caroline D. Emerson, The Magic Tunnel, 1964, copyright.  I used to read this book frequently. It's about a girl and a boy who get transported magically from the subway to New Amsterdam (New York under Dutch colonial rule) in 1664. They meet Peter Stuyvesant, among others. I recall them being able to understand Dutch, even though in their normal lives they don't speak it.
Caroline Emerson, The Magic Tunnel, 1964, approximate.  Does this sound familiar? "Imagine suddenly finding yourself living three hundred years ago! Sarah and John take a subway ride one day - and magically find themselves back in 1664, when New York was New Amsterdam. How odd it is to be living in colonial times! Sarah and John are rescued by an Indian scout. They meet Governor Peter Stuyvesant. They see the English take New Amsterdam from the Dutch. They are living in the midst of history. But all the while Sarah and John wonder - will they ever find the magic tunnel that leads back home?"
Howard Fast, Tony and the wonderful door, 1968, copyright.  In case it's not "The Magic Tunnel," here's another book with a similar theme.  "When he has just the right feeling, Tony can open the door in his New York City tenement backyard and step through to the time when the Dutch and Indians lived on Manhattan Island--but no one believes him."


C556: cursed gold quest
I read this children's book around 1963. It was about a boy who comes to stay with his uncle  or some relation. I think it took place on an island, but I can't be sure. Throughout the story they talk about and search for the hidden, cursed gold. At the end they don't get the gold, but they console themselves by saying it doesn't matter because the gold was cursed anyway.


C557: Children's poetry book
A book of about 100 children's poems, published probably in the late 1930's or early 1940's.  It had, I seem to remember a cover with a mille-fleur pattern on black.  Some of the poems it contained were: "On the Road to Raffydiddle"(the first lines of this were: "On the Road to Raffydiddle sits a fiddler with a fiddle, and there, beneath the melting of the moon, each night he puts his chin to his cheery violin and plucks him out a frisky feather tune"), "Custard the Dragon", "Antonio", "Noise", "Shoes", "Tea in an Old House", "Time, You Old Gypsy Man", "The Puffin" (though I'm not sure that's the title; the first line was "There once was a puffin, just the shape of a muffin, and he lived on an island in the bright blue sea").   This is not the Big Golden Book of Children's Poetry, which does contain the Road to Raffydiddle but not many of the others.  The Golden Book is a large but thin book, not containing anywhere near the number of poems the one I am looking for does.  The one I am looking for is a little bit larger than your usual mass market paperback and about as thick as a 300 to 400 page paperback.  I do not remember whether it was a paperback but I rather think not as they didn't publish many paperbacks in those days..  I look forward to your finding it, as I have searched for many years on the internet and haven't found it.  It was a favorite of my early childhood and of my children's early childhoods.


C558: Child befriends elderly neighbor over summer
Solved: The 79 Squares


C559: Coming of age novel about Amber
A sexual coming of age novel about a girl called Amber. (quite a big girl if I remember, in the story her sister is anorexic.) It was for young adults and had a boy in it who only talked using a sock hand puppet, I think he was in love with Amber but she ends up pregnant to someone else. Quite a downbeat story and written early 90's at a guess it has really stayed with me and I'd like to know the author and read it again.


C560: children's book about Cowboys & Indians, published in Britian
Looking for this for a friend's birthday.  He cannot remember the title or the author.   It was a child's book, probably published in Great Britain sometime in the late 60s or early 70s, tho possibly earlier.   Here is his description:   It was a picture book with short, descriptive passages in child-friendly large print. A young boy and his mother (the father is never seen or alluded to) move to a new town and the boy hears of a party that the popular neighbourhood boy is about to throw. The theme is the Wild Wild West. The boy's mother is obviously poor; she makes him a splendid Indian scout's outfit by her own hand and materials and the pictures show him resplendent in it. The auburn brilliance of the buffalo-hide jacket and pants; the detail of the cords swishing jauntily down the arms; the detail of the buttons and the intricacy of the seam-stitching. He is an awesome Indian and he will be, cannot but be totally accepted by the local boys and welcomed as a kindred spirit. He ventures over to the house where the party is in full swing. Inside, the boys are seen, jovial and comradely. The Indian boy rings the doorbell and the housewife comes to greet him. Oh horror! The theme is "Cowboys", didn't he know that? Of course he cannot come in dressed as he is. The image that got me was of the boy, stooped over on the lawn, crestfallen face buried in cupped hands as he peers in the window at the party that excludes him, the acceptance denied to him and the rank of the many against the one.  Any ideas? I would love to find a copy for his upcoming birthday.


C561: child raised without anyone knowing its sex
Parents decide not to tell anyone the gender of their child, to allow the child the freedom to enjoy whatever pleases without being confined to dolls or trucks.  1970, childrens.

Lois Gould, X: A Fabulous Child's Story, 1972.  You can read the full text posted here: http://tinyurl.com/2tlutg .


C562: Coffee/tea cups shaped like their owners
The book I am looking for is one that I remember as a young child in the early 70's. It could be an older book. The only thing I really remember is that all the people in the book seemed to live in the same house and they all had different coffee/tea cups that were shaped like them. I remember most vividly, a tall, skinny man who lived in the broom closet and he had a tall skinny cup, A large woman who had a fat cup that had polka dots on it, I think. Thanks for any help!!!

No author, Little Lulu Lucky Landlady
, 1960, copyright.  Little Lulu rents out nooks and crannies of her house to members of a circus, based on their size and shape. Published by Whitman. A Tell-A-Tale book.


C563: Civil War short story
Solved: Chickamauga


C564: Cocker spaniel, obedience school, trophies
Solved: Champion Dog, Prince Tom


C565: Chloe the ghost daughter of a reclusive artist appears; Chloe died by drowning
Solved: The Otherwise Girl


C566: Cat and several generations of children
Solved: The Ghost of Opalina


C567: Cuthbert Train eating disorder
Solved: Bitter Ice


C568: Children Make Best Bread
before 1980s?, childrens.  Story about a family with a lot of children and hard working parents.  The mother always makes the bread but one day she is busy so the children try.  They use the different ages children's hands to try and equal their mother's hands for measuring out the ingredients.  When they bake the bread in the oven it ends up overflowing and filling up the whole kitchen with bread.  The father comes home from a hard day's work and is hungry for supper but the whole kitchen is filled with bread so no one can make supper.  The father decides to have a piece of the bread and it turns out to be the most amazing bread he has ever tasted and has many flavors.

Roberta Duyff, The Bread That Grew,
1987, copyright.  This may be a bit of a stretch... "When the bakers' children are baking bread, one of them adds a mysterious something that causes the dough to grow and grow."
Mary Ann Hoberman, The Seven Silly Eaters, 1997, copyright.  This is also a bit of a stretch, but the children do end up making wonderful bread by accident.  In The Seven Silly Eaters, the children are all very finicky, each one with his or her own quirks.  On their mother's birthday they try to prepare their own meals...


C569: Cat turns into girl
Solved: Felicia


C570: Cereal, porridge
Solved: Pals


C571: Colorful book features dragons/monsters
I would date this book from the late 70s to the mid 80s. I recall it was a larger book, possibly hardbound. There were several creatures, but my brain keeps conjuring a blue dragon or similar. Color was integral to the book. I remember something about the sky, maybe a pink cliff, and vines. Possibly involved paint or art. There were children involved. I remember it was "trippy" and whimsical. I think maybe it was supposed to be touting diversity, but I could be wrong.

Beverly Cleary, Beezus and Ramona
, 1955, copyright.  This sounds irresistably like the opening chapter of Beezus and Ramona. In the opening chapter, Beezus is in a summer school art class. She says she hasn't got much imagination, but when Ramona says she can't paint a picture of her imaginary pet lizard because he's invisible, Beezus tries to do a picture of him and it ends up as a psychedelic lollipop dragon. Anyway, if this isn't your book, you might like to read it anyway.
Unfortunately, that isn't it. This was definitely a heavily illustrated book. The colors and style of the pictures were really what drew me in. I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't something along the vein of the Serendipity books.
Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are,
1963.  The boy in this story, Max, gets sent to his room without supper.  In his room, a mysterious wilderness grows, full of strange, wild creatures.  Some of th characters are blue and have lizardy looks.  Also there is a pink ske in one scene and in another, Max and the creatures are swinging on vines/branches through the jungle.
Thanks once more, but this is also not it.  I keep wondering if this was not associated with a toy, cartoon, or other franchise, but none of the "obvious" ones. It definitely had a "Sid & Marty Krofft" flavor, but softer, more in line with the Serendipity series.  It isn't The Reluctant Dragon either. This involved several creatures or one that changed color (perhaps also shape). It was a tallish book, in the size range of Tony Wolf's oeuvre, another series I loved as a kid.  One of the creatures might have had head fins or dainty horns.  I can't remember the cover, but I think it might have been torn off or otherwise damaged. I think the kids in the story might have been chasing this beast or communicating with it in a light-hearted manner. I remember thinking it wasn't like the other books I had and loving the swirly, trippy style of the illustrations.  I'm sorry I have so few details to share. I'd really love to see this book again, so I know I didn't dream it up.  :)
Barbapapa (series),
1970 - present.  This is a long-running series of books as well as a tv cartoon series (originally French) featuring a family of blob-like creatures who each have a specific color and specialty and who can change shape. Very trippy! Check out the book covers at the Barbapapa website to see if they look familiar: http://www.barbapapa.fr/gb/catalogue/flagship.html.
I lived in France briefly, so I'm familiar with Barbapapa. Sadly, this also isn't it. The style was softer and more feminine.  Sorry this is so hard to figure out! I appreciate everyone's efforts.
Stephen Cosgrove, Robin James, Shimmeree, 1980. My boyfriend was looking for the same book! I'm a reference librarian, so I did some searching in WorldCat and found it (I believe): http://www.worldcat.org/title/shimmeree/oclc/7159559&referer=brief_results [...] I'm glad I ran across this stumper, I probably wouldn't have figured it out the book without the reference to the Serendipity series... it IS part of the Serendipity series, that's why it looked so similar. Yay! So much fun! Now I get to help a random stranger AND my boyfriend at the same time. Hope it's the right book!


C572: Cat wearing slippers
Childrens book,  possibly recent, and maybe by a female.  All i have to go on is a picture of a cat wearing a pair of slippers.  
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/xhatecruex/Cat.jpg

Alter, Anna, Estelle and Lucy, 2001, copyright.  Talk about coincidence.  I looked at the picture online last night and this morning I was weeding the A's, opened the book to check the condition and thought this looks familiar. This is it.


C573: Colt that is a little different
Children's Illustrated book about a colt that is a little different going to a birthday party and finding horses of different colors dancing around a maypole.

Sounds like Unsolved Stumper H127.  Not a solution, but there might be some clues there.


C574: Cat's eyes change color
I'm trying to find the title of a book I had as a child.  It was a very simple, PB story book about a cat whose eyes would change colors depending where it stood.  For example, when it was in the grass, its eyes were green.  The next page, it is in like a bunch of blueberries, and its eyes are blue.  Finally at the last, its eyes are blue and it puts on pink glasses, and now they look purple?  Or something like that!  :)

Alice and Martin Provensen, Roses Are Red, Are Violets Blue?
, 1973, copyright.  Pretty sure the solution is this paperback. Other characters are a boy and a girl with colored spectacles.


C575: Colorful creatures, series of books
This was an obscure series of picture books, each with the same structure and same ending. They were extremely colorful. Each was, I think, based around a colored creature, and at the end the creature went to the magical fantasy land. Very strange, probably, in retrospect, diversity-oriented. Published most likely between 1973-77.

Children of Wonder
, 1987?, approximate.  This is a long shot, but would it be the Children of Wonder series? There were four books, Helping the Sun, the Night, the Plants, and the Animals. The structure was simple enough: a child and his or her special animal friend would go through nature (animals, the sky, etc) and help set things up as needed. The books were quite colorful and meant for very young children, they may have been cardboard books. Hope this helps.


C576: cricket magazine dead friend 1970s
This is driving me crazy. It was a serialized set of beautiful stories published in Cricket magazine, for many issues, and the time period had to have been between 1973 and 1978. It was about a boy who had a dead friend who followed him and talked to him. I have no idea if it was ever published as a book. My mother chucked out all my old Cricket magazines. Alas. I would be eternally grateful if you have any idea. I wish Cricket would publish some archived stuff.

Ruth Ainsworth, A Sprig of Rosemary,
1978, approximate.  A long shot, but if instead of a boy it might have been a girl named Joanna, with a ghost friend named Rosemary, this could be the one.  I remember reading this story in Cricket magazine, probably in the late 1970's or early 1980's, but I don't recall whether it was serialized or not. While playing in the overgrown garden of the house next door, Joanna meets Rosemary, who is blind.  The two become friends and play together often. Rosemary is troubled, however, by the absence of the rosemary bush from the garden, and feels that if she could smell it, she would remember something important that she has forgotten, since "rosemary is for rememberance."  Joanna eventually plants a rosemary bush for her friend, and when she smells it, Rosemary remembers falling over a crumbling cliff.  Shortly after, the owner of the house, Mrs. Raven, appears at the window. Rosemary looks up at her and calls out, "Mother, I'm coming!" Then both of them disappear.  Joanna returns home, alone and bewildered. She is later informed that Mrs. Raven had died that morning, at the same moment that the girls had seen her in the window, and that Rosemary had been her daughter, who had died many years before. The story haunted me for years, until I finally posted a stumper on this site, which led me to find it in the book "The Phantom Carousel and Other Ghost Stories," by Ruth Ainsworth.
Astrid Lindgren, The Brothers Lionheart,
1973.  I've got a handful of Cricket Magazines left (brought home from my Mum's just 2 weeks ago!), Volume 1, Number 12, September 1975 has part 2 of a serilisation of The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren.  I think it's the one you seek...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Lionheart.


C577: Cat hiding place
This might have been a serial in Jack and Jill Magazine in the 1950s.  A girl is told never to play with a special ring which belongs to her crabby aunt.  She hears a sound and drops or pushes the ring into a china cat.  Then either she can't remember where the ring is or she is to afraid to tell her relative.

Was the girl blind?  One of Phyllis Whitney's mysteries--The Secret of the Emerald Star--has a blind girl who hides a valuable emerald (although I think it's a necklace or pendant) inside a statue that's drying.  I can't remember why it's a mystery, other than the main character isn't the same girl who hid the jewel...I think the girl who hid it doesn't want to admit it or something.  It's been a *really* long time since I read the book, but it sounded similar enough that it might be it.  And the original publication date was in the early 60s.
The Money Cat, 1950's-early '60s, approximate.  I KNOW i have the name of the story right...and yes, it did appear in Jack and Jill, which I received from 1958-1962 (approx).  There was a cupboard in the hous which had been wallpapered over, so finding the statue of the 3-colored "money" cat was difficult... the old woman's name was Eglantine... I, too would love to read this story again, but have not had luck locating the right issues of J&J.  Hope this helps, and I'll keep peeking to see if anyone else has any leads. :)


C578: Cannonballs filled with water
Story in elem school reader, mid-70's, 3rd-4th grade level. In winter, child (girl?) filled old cannonballs or similar item with water, so they split when the water froze/expanded. I think she did it to earn money? Once split, they could be melted down by foundry & recast? Older gentleman involved.

I wish you had asked this a month ago.  I remember the cannonball story from fourth grade, and I was at a library book sale holding the thing in my hands!  I read the stories I remembered and put it back. The title wasn't memorable.
?, ? early 1970s, approximate.  I remember teaching 3rd grade in the early 70's and this story sounds very familiar.  Try MacMillan readers series: MORE THAN WORDS and BETTER THAN GOLD... maybe you'll get lucky!  Hope this helps. :)


C579: Children’s Counting Book
This is a children’s counting book. It was a tall, skinny book with a hardcover, and paper pages. I believe the cover was black and each page had a black background and the items (ex. Butterflies) for kids to count were brightly colored. On the last page there were many many stars and the book asked either “how many stars” or “can you count the stars”. It must have been published either late 1960’s or early 1970’s.  Thanks!


C580: Church mouse, cathedral, robbery
I looked through your other church mouse entries but none seemed right- this story was probably printed in the late 70's, in colour (very intricate designs) and featured in a cathedral w/ a cat and mouse, robbery of silver candlesticks and the mouse found a 'smorgasboard' of stuff underneath the pew.

Graham Oakley, The Church Mouse,
1972.  More info on Graham Oakley's books:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Oakley.
Graham Oakley, The Church Mouse.  I think you ought to check this one out, because it does contain the story about the candlestick robbery, and the pictures could definitely be called "intricate"--lots of visual humour.  From the text:  "Arthur tied the burglar's bootlaces together.  He had to do it himself because Sampson could only tie granny knots.  Then Sampson obliged with his party piece.  It was supposed to be the Song of the nightingale but everyone else thought it sounded like a policeman's whistle.  They counted on the burglar thinking so too....Everybody had the idea of rolling him up in the carpet.  At any rate, everybody said it was his idea afterwards.  They all put their shoulders to the carpet and pushed.  The schoolmouse said to the mouse beside him that he felt like a Lilliputian, but the mouse replied huffily that he couldn't stand foregin food because he was just an average English working mouse and he felt like a cheese and chutney sandwiich, and the mouse next to him said he felt like a bread and butter pudinng, and Sampson said he felt like a mouse casserole and he'd have one, too, if they didn't shut up and push."
Graham Oakley, The Church Mice at Christmas, 1980.  When Arthur and Humphrey decide to rally the church mice into having a Christmas party, the result is a series of disasters. Some wonderful scenes include the mice raffling-off Sampson (the Church Cat) to raise money for their party, their hopeless attempts at carol-singing for the same purpose, and the burglar dressed as Santa (he has a bag on which he has crossed out "Swag" and written "presents"). Also look out for the bizarre Christmas window displays in town.  Here are all the Church Mice Chronicles: The Church Mouse, The Church Cat Abroad, The Church Mice and the Moon, The Church Mice Spread Their Wings, The Church Mice Adrift, The Church Mice at Bay, The Church Mice at Christmas, The Church Mice in Action, The Diary of a Church Mouse, The Church Mice and the Ring, Humphrey Hits the Jackpot, The Church Mice Take a Break.


C581: Chickens in henhouse & henyard scratching
Early 1970's ? childrens.  I remember a story about chickens in the hen yard, and how they would be scratching about for feed.  Also alot of description about them going up the ramp into their henhouse, and fluffing up on their nests.  There might have been something about a dog.  There was also a vivid description of how the henhouse was built, how wide the shelves were, and which hen had which nest.

Meindert de Jong, Along Came a Dog.
  De Jong has a gift for writing about animals.  This book is about a little red hen that gets picked on by the chickens because she lost her toes when they froze off.  She hops around and manages to survive with the help of the farmer and a stray dog who sees himself as her protector.  Lots of detailed descriptions of the chickens, the henhouse, and the dog.


C582: Children flying space ship
Solved: But We Are Not Of Earth


C583: Cheerleaders solve mystery in a swamp
Solved: Cheer Leader


C584: Collection of Childrens Stories and Poems
Solved: The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies

C585: Compliation of fairy tales
Probably published in the 80's. It includes The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, The Swan Princess, and Silver Saucer, Russet Apple, which seems to be a pretty rare story. I believe the cover was of snow white and was dark in color. Thick, glossy pages with great illustrations. Prob. 9x13.

Oscar Wilde, Arthur Ransome.
  Ok, so this isn't exactly a solution, but perhaps it will help point you in the right direction? First, are you absolutely certain that all those stories were in the same book? Or might you be combining the memories of several books? I've been hunting, and so far the only books I can find that contain both "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant" are the books that contain only the stories of Oscar Wilde (eg. The Happy Prince and Other Tales, or The Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde). I have not been able to find any reference to a story about a russet apple and a silver saucer, but was wondering if perhaps you meant "The Tale of the Silver Saucer and the Transparent Apple" by Arthur Ransome, which can be found in Old Peter's Russian Tales, The Kingfisher Book of Stories for Seven-Year-Olds, and More Stories for Seven-Year-Olds And Other Young Readers. The Wild Swans (Hans Christian Andersen) can also be found in More Stories For Seven-Year-Olds, but the Oscar Wilde stories are not. In a 2004 book, The Snow Maiden and Other Russian Tales (Bonnie Marshall) the story is called "The Silver Saucer and the Red Apple" and I've also seen it listed as "The Silver Saucer and the Red-Ripe Apple" or "The Silver Saucer and the Ripe Juicy Apple" in volumes of Russian folk or fairy tales. These, however, do not contain any of the other stories you are looking for. Anyway, I hope this helps a little. Good luck!
Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince and other stories, 1980, reprint.  This is definitely Oscar Wilde's book called The Happy Prince and Other Stories first published in 1880, reprinted in 1980.


C586: Children on desert island
Group of children stranded on desert island, older girl in group takes charge of them, sets a boy's broken leg, they are rescued at the end and she apologizes for not setting it straight.  I read the book in the fifties, but it was definitely published pre-1945.

Mira Lobe, Insupu
, 1951, approximate.


C587: Cottage or garden in woods
A little girl who goes into the woods and finds a pretty little cottage that is empty.  Maybe a garden.  Maybe through a hedge or opening in a wall to get there.  It could have been abandoned.  It was maybe in the early 70's.  2-5th grade level probably.  Not Goldilocks.

Could you be thinking of Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards?  That's the title that popped into my head, though I don't remember many details.
Frances Burnett, the secret garden, 1911.


C588: Cinderella
Specific version of Cinderella probably printed circa 1970 - 1985.  don't remember the author or illustrator but it had the most beautiful and intricate illustrations.  I believe Cinderella is shown in the transformation to ball ready Princess; she is shown in more than one gown in the book.  I think the dress style was Elizabethan and I remember one of the dresses having a neck piece that looked like it was made of spider silk.  Thanks.

Arthur Rackham (illus), story retold by C.S. Evans, Cinderella.
  Have you tried looking at Arthur Rackham's work? I don't know that I'd call the style Elizabethan (more French, in keeping with the nationality of the story), but his are definitely some of the most beautiful and intricate illustrations I've seen for this story. The story is the longer (non-Disney) version in which there are several balls on successive nights, each with its own beautiful gown. This book has been reprinted many times - including several printings during the 70's and 80's.
Other details: The illustrations are similar to K.V.Craft but back when I was a child in late 1970's early 1980's.  The book was hard cover and slightly larger, maybe like legal size (8x14?).  On one page the words were centered with Cinderella illustrated on the side, and the entire edge of the pages were illustrated with many other details.  I know I'm being a freak but this book and another one (I can't remember which classic princess tale) was illustrated by the same artist, and these books are what inspired me to become a costumer.  Thanks again for all your patience and help.
Marianna & Mercer Mayer.
  Just a thought... Your suggestion of similarity to Kinuko Craft's work, and mention of another princess book by the same illustrator, reminded me of Marianna Mayer's "Beauty and the Beast" (1978), which features exquisite artwork by Mercer Mayer. I don't know if they did a Cinderella together or not, but it might be worth looking into. Mercer Mayer also illustrated a volume called "Favorite Tales from Grimm," which includes Cinderella, along with Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, Snow White and Rose Red, The Goose Girl, Little Red Cap, The Bremen Town Musicians, Briar Rose, Hansel & Gretel, Rapunzel, and other stories. He also did a stand-alone version of Sleeping Beauty. As an interesting side note, Kinuko Craft did the artwork for Marianna Mayer's "12 Dancing Princesses" (1996).
Hi, thanks to all for helping, although these illustrators produce beautiful pictures, I haven't found the right one yet.  I'll keep checking up on this site.  Another note, in one dress she has a neck ruff that's heart shaped like classic Queen Elizabeth.
What about the version of Cinderella by Marcia Brown?  That won the Caldecott Medal, and has beautiful and intricate illustrations as well.
Amy Ehrlich/Susan Jeffers or Michael Hague?, Cinderella.  A few other suggestions (I don't own copies of these versions, so can't check for the specific illustrations, but pictures of the covers can be found readily online - maybe one will look familiar?) 1) Cinderella retold by Amy Ehrlich, illustrated by Susan Jeffers - copyright 1985, reprinted 2004. Beautiful, intricate artwork on the cover - might be worth looking into. 2) Cinderella and Other Tales from Perrault, illustrated by Michael Hague - copyright 1989. In the cover illustration, the fairy godmother wears a gown with an Elizabethan-style ruff (Cinderella is in rags) - perhaps that style is carried through into the ballgowns as well? 3) Cinderella - A PSS Pop-Up Book (1980) illustrated by Linda Griffith. A long shot, as I think you'd remember if it had been a pop-up book, but thought it worth mentioning just because Cinderella wears a heart-shaped headress (not a neck ruff) on the cover. You might also enjoy looking at the 1935 version illustrated by Juanita Bennett (my personal favorite). It's not in the style of the one you are looking for - many of the gowns are more reminiscent of the 1930's movie star glamour pictures, and the cover reminds me of Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz movie - but the artwork and costuming is beautiful.
One of my favorite versions that features three balls and three gorgeous gowns is Charlotte Huck's Princess Furball! It may be worth a look!
I've checked all of the suggestions on line so far as of 11/14/08, no luck.  I appreciate all suggestions and have researched until my eyes feel like they will explode.  I'll keep checking the site and doing my own research, I will let you know if I find it.  Thanks again.
The Story of Cinderella
, 1947, approximate.  I think this is the version you are looking for. It is published by Ladybird and illustrated by Evelyn Bowmar. I believe it has been reprinted several times.
Fowles, John, Cinderella, Adapted from Perrault's Cendrillon of 1697, 1974, copyright.  Also take a look at this version, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett.
Mack, Nila, Let's Pretend.  This is a compilation of stores from the old radio show called Let's Pretend hosted by Nila Mack.  The publication date would not be consistent with what you remember, but the illustrations and costumes of the characters (including Cinderella) are just wonderful.


C589: City family moves to country - death?
Hi, I read this young adult book in the late seventies or early eighties, about a city family (dusty, imported cars) who moves to the country and befriends the neighbor (clean, American cars).  It was the first book for me that subtly pointed out class differences.  I think the neighbor boy died.


C590: Cranky girl, kids travel with merman
A cranky girl w/glasses meets a handsome young merman who transforms her and a group of children under her care (her cousins?) into mermaids and takes them on a journey across the sea.  Cranky girl likes the merman but can't express herself. Antagonist is another girl or a wicked mermaid, I think.

Edith Nesbit, Wet Magic
.   This description reminds me of E. Nesbit's "Wet Magic".  It's been many years, but I think the children summon a mermaid by reciting a few lines of "Sabrina fair", and they visit the mer-people under the sea.


C591: City children visit ranch/farm
children (possibly cousins) from city visit ranch or farm - they try on cowboy hats and boots. book from 1950's early 60's.

Baldwin Hawes, Come Visit My Ranch,
1950, copyright.  Two city kids (Susan and ____) go to visit their country cousin, Billy, on his ranch. There, they learn about cowboy clothes (levis, "jack boots" and 10-gallon hats), get to ride horses, and go out to see cattle being branded. Published by Wonder Books, and illustrated by the author. Front cover shows a side view of the three children riding a brown-and-white horse. Billy is in front, wearing a blue shirt & black cowboy hat, then Susan in a red shirt (no hat), and her brother is on the back, wearing a green shirt - he appears to be falling off and his hat is in mid-air. The book was later reissued as "Calling All Cowboys."


C592: Charm school
Solved: Mystery of the Chinatown Pearls


C593: Civil War reenactment
Solved: Mystery at Crane's Landing


C594: cougar boy grandfather
Solved: An American Ghost


C595: Children walk to Washington, D.C.
Solved: The Fragile Flag


C596: Children learn about nature
This book may have been a grammar school text circa 1930-40. It was about two children learning about nature at their grandfather's farm. What I remember is the beautiful ink drawings that illustrated the book. The one most indelible in my mind is a drawing of a mud dapper wasp building a nest.

Possibly The Burgess Book of Nature Lore: Adventures of Tommy, Sue, Sammy with their friends of meadow, pool and forest . . . with illus. by Robert Candy. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., (1965). One thing I remember from the story is that Thornton W. Burgess, for all his knowledge as a naturalist, didn't know that picking up a skunk by the tail will NOT stop it from spraying! Other chapters have to do with pitcher plants, monarch chrysalises, the chain of life, and bears. Here's where you can see an alphabetical list of Burgess' 172 books: http://www.thorntonburgess.org/Burgess%20Books.htm.
Sorry. It can't be The Burgess Book of Nature Lore (published in 1965) because I had the book in the early 1950's.
Enid Blyton, Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book
, 11/1/08, reprint.  First published in 1944, this delightful collection of stories, poems, and nature facts is centered on three children and their uncle who takes them on nature walks, unveiling the delights of the countryside throughout the seasons. Poems by Enid Blyton as well as classic works by Wordsworth, Keats, and others are accompanied by lush illustrations of various animals and plants. A field guide to common birds and plants is also provided, making this a must-have for nature lovers young and old.  I'm so glad this book is back in print; it's gorgeous! I had it on my staff picks this Fall!


C597: Cinderella story
All I can remember of this is one illustration in colour of Cinderella in her ballgown (I think) on her way to the ball. She wasn't in the coach, but was wearing a pale cream gown and cloak and had jewels interlaced in her long brown hair. The story may have been in it's own book or in an anthology.

Ruth Sanderson, Cinderella
There's a beautiful version of Cinderella, retold and illustrated by Ruth Sanderson, published in 2002 by Little Brown. The cover illustration sounds like what you're describing.
Thanks for searching - I had this book in the 1960s and looked up the Ruth Sanderson one in case it might be a reprint but I'm afraid it isn't!


C598: clothespin dolls, mystery
I'm looking for a mystery about two clothespin dolls.  They were connected in some way to colonial America (I think they had been a gift from George Washington to his sister).  The main character was a young girl.  I know the story involved a dollhouse with a secret room.

Holly Beth Walker, Mystery in Williamsburg.
  I'm pretty sure this is a Meg mystery. I don't remember all the details of the story, but I believe Meg and her friend are visiting historical Williamsburg. They dress up in colonial costumes, and I think someone was trying to steal the clothespin dolls (I recall those, probably because I had never heard of them before).
Holly Beth Walker, Meg and the Mystery in Williamsburg.  This is one of the Meg mysteries - Mystery in Williamsburg.  The whole series is really very enjoyable.  They're set in Virginia.

2009


C599: children's fairy book circa 1972, found in England
Solved: Treasury of Children's Stories


C600: chapter book, girl called Chan, twin brothers
Juvenile chapter book from mid to late sixties, possibly British. About a young blonde girl whose name may have been Chaneth (called Chan) or Richenda (called Chen) but she was called Chan for short. I know for sure that her two brothers who were twins were named Gregory (called Gory) and Marcus. There were several illustrations in the book; one was of the girl eating dinner with a parent or aunt. The book had a mysterious air.


C601: Christmas book, father searching for gift on Christmas Eve
Solved: A Little Cowboy's Christmas

C602: Compliation of stories, puppy wants to see his sick boy
I had a book as a child that was a compliation of stories. I remember it being a fairly thick book; but I was young, so my idea of a big book might have been somewhat skewed. It did not have classic stories in it (no little red riding hoods or goldie locks). I remember one story particularly well; it was about a young boy who had a puppy. The little boy got sick and the puppy wasn't allowed to see the boy. The boy's room was on the second floor, and one day the puppy decided to tackle the stairway and go visit his boy. He crawls up them, pokes his nose in the room and is reunited with his boy.   I'm thinking this book was published in the late 70s or early 80s. If you can help me find this book, I will be thrilled beyond belief! I just had a little girl and I would love to read her some stories from my childhood!  Thanks so much!

This probably is not correct, but your description vaguely recalls the comic strips, and later film, about Charlie Brown's Snoopy when he went to visit his first owner, a little girl named Lila, sick in hospital. The comics didn't emphasize it, but the film stated "No Dogs Allowed" in the building. Of course Snoopy found his way around that, and had a loving reunion with Lila, helping her get well. In both film and comics he did come back to Charlie Brown. This is all I know, hope you can find the real story.


C603: Cat's paws catch on attic floor, girl finds doll
Solved: Magic Elizabeth
I read a book in the 70's that I loved about a girl who went to live in a tall narrow house with black wrought iron fencing, with a woman who lived there with  who was really old fashioned, and dressed all in in black. There were no friends, and no toys and it was dark and dreary and it rained all the time. The woman had a cat however and somehow this young girl got into the attic with the cat whose paws caught on something beneath the floor boards and it turned out to be a doll.. oh there was so much more and it turned out wonderfully and I can't for the life of me remember the title.. I must have gotten it from my school's library.. Can you help?

Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth
.  You've forgotten a lot of the plot, but this is certainly your book.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1966, copyright.  Magic Elizabeth has all the elements: the old house, the gloomy aunt, the cat and the attic and doll - but although the doll figures at the heart of the story, the actual doll is not found until the end. The book was reprinted in 1999.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1966, copyright.  This sounds like the often requested Magic Elizabeth.  Sally goes to visit her old Aunt Sarah who lives in a creepy old house.  While exploring the attic with the cat, Shadow, looking for a long lost doll named Elizabeth, she finds the diary of another girl named Sally.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1966, copyright.  Sounds like this could be the book you're looking for:  While her parents are away, Sally has to move in with her old Aunt Sarah whose old dark house looks to her like a witch's house. Her aunt even has a black cat, Shadow.  Scared and unhappy at first, Sally slowly grows close to her aunt whose portrait as a little girl holding her doll hangs above the fireplace.  Sally looks just like her aunt in the  portrait and she becomes determined to find the doll Elizabeth who has been lost for years.  Ultimately, Shadow helps her find her Elizabeth.  This popular book has typically wonderful illustrations by Joe Krush and is very hard to find in hardcover now.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1960s, approximate.  This is Magic Elizabeth. I read it many times as a child and recently read it with my daughter. It was just as good as I remember. Sally uncovers a mystery when she visits Aunt Sarah.What happened to the doll Elizabeth on that Christmas Eve so long ago? Sally travels back in time (or is it just a dream?)With the help of the cat Shadow, she discovers the answer.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth.  One of my all time favorite books!
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth.  Sally goes to stay with her great-aunt Sal at a very old, spooky-looking house.  She is given a lovely room that has a portrait of an earlier Sally and her doll, Elizabeth.  When Sally explores the attic, she finds the earlier Sally's diary and reads it; and as she looks in the mirror she sees the other Sally, and then suddenly *is* the other Sally.  The doll Elizabeth had been lost years before, and with the help of Shadow, Aunt Sal's cat, Sally finds it.  A really wonderful book, illustrated by Joe Krush.  I recently read it aloud to a class of third graders, and they loved it.  They loved writing to the author and getting a reply, too!
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth.  Definitely the one.  The favourite book of a lot of people!
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth.  I think this might be it. It was published sometime in the 1970s. Sally goes to stay with her elderly aunt Sarah in her creepy old house. Her aunt's special doll disappeared when she was a girl, presumably in the house.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1966, copyright.  I think you're looking for "Magic Elizabeth".  Sarah is the name of the girl...she's sent to stay with her scary Aunt Sally because (I think) one of her parents is ill. Aunt Sally lives in a scary old house with a black cat. Sarah finds a portrait of a girl in old fashioned clothes carrying a doll-Elizabeth. Aunt Sally tells her that Elizabeth was lost long ago, somewhere in the house. Sarah follows Tib (the cat) to the attic, and sees as he finds a doll bonnet.  She's then determined to find Elizabeth.  If you can't tell, I loved this book as a kid!
Kassirer, Norma, Magic Elizabeth.  You'll get a lot of responses on this one!
Magic Elizabeth.  Great book!


C604: conditioned reflex, characters named after psychological phenomena on an expedition in the jungle
A bunch of characters named after various psychological phenomena on an expedition in the jungle. One of the characters was a birdlike "conditioned reflex" that kept looking around. I think it said "ook" a lot. This was from an excerpt in an illustrated 4th grade textbook circa 1975.


C605: cheese, peas and chocolate pudding
Solved: Cheese, Peas and Chocolate Pudding
About a child who will only eat 3 foods - cheese, peas and chocolate pudding, until one day while he was playing on the floor under the dining table, a piece of hamburger fell into his mouth - then things changed!!

Caroline Feller Bauer, Cheese, Peas, and Chocolate Pudding.
Betty Van Witsen, Cheese, Peas and Chocolate Pudding
.  Definitely this one. The story was originally published in the 1950's, but has been reprinted several times. If you can't find a stand-alone copy, the story can also be found in several anthologies, including "Let's Hear a Story (30 Stories and Poems for Today's Boys and Girls)" by Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg (1961) and in "Believe and Make Believe" by Lucy Sprague Mitchell (1956).
Betty Van Witsen, Cheese, Peas and Chocolate Pudding, 1956.  This is  definitely your book--my kindergarten teacher read this to us and then we made and ate cheese, peas and chocolate pudding.  I can't imagine they went well together :).
already in the solved file as A284 / original author apparently Betty (not Betsy, as some show) Van Witsen and apparently in more than one anthology, earliest possibly being: Sheldon, William, Believe and Make-Believe, 1957.  It has also been published solo:  Title:  Cheese, peas, and chocolate pudding / Author(s):  Witsen, Betty Van.  Publication:  Glenview, Ill. : Scott, Foresman,  Year:  1971  Description:  32 p. : col. ill.   29 cm.  Language:  English  Series:  Scott Foresman reading systems; Teacher's read-aloud library.  SUBJECT(S) Descriptor:  Food -- Fiction.  Note(s):  "Special Scott, Foresman and Co. edition for Teacher's read-aloud library."  Class Descriptors:  LC: PZ7.W7825 Responsibility:  by Betty Van Witsen ; illustrated by Jack Haesly.
Betty Van Witsen, Cheese, Peas, and Chocolate Pudding, 1971, approximate.  I found a couple different versions of this online. It looks like it was in some readers, too. This was the one storybook version I could find.
There's a story called "Cheese, Peas and Chocolate Pudding" by Betty Van Witsen and can be found in the book IT'S TIME FOR STORY TIME~from a librarian

C606: children solving a mystery Solved: Secret Agents FourThe book I am looking for is from the 70's. It was about a group of children solving a mystery. There was something about an island or place walled up they had to get in.  They had to solve it quickly because the bad guys were going to poison the water supply and they made it there just in time.
Perhaps you are looking for one of the Boxcar Children mysteries by Gertrude Chandler Warner?  She wrote several books about the Alden siblings Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny. The first books were written in the 1940s, and have been reprinted several times, including in the 70's.  There are dozens more sequels that were written by other authors, as well.
I remembered another piece of information. When the bad guys were about to poison the water supply, they came in (or were being spirited away by) a helicopter.
Donald Sobol, Secret Agents Four
.   I don't remember the specific details so I can't confirm about getting into a walled place, but in Secret Agents Four the bad guys are planning to put a chemical in the water supply that will make people repeat their actions of 24 hours earlier.  If VACUUM (Volunteer Agents Crusading Unsteadily Under Mongoos) and their Beautiful Assistant Gangbuster (thus, VACUUM BAG) sound familiar, this is your book.
I'm guessing it's Secret Agents Four by Donald J. Sobol, author of the Encyclopedia Brown series. It's not a poison, exactly - it's a drug that causes its victims to relive everything they did 24 hours ago. There were six boys and a girl with a belt in judo, IIRC.
Donald J. Sobol, Secret Agents Four, 1972, 1988, 2003, copyright.  Eureka! You have found it! I'm so excited!  Thanks everyone, this is definitely the book - they have to sneak onto an island, drug the water supply, and the cover even has the helicopter!  Another stumper solved!
I just got the book in the mail and it is definitely Secret Agents Four. Thanks!

C607: Country Fair / Circus mysterious adventures
A Puffin Books paperback, late 1950's? early '60's, juvenile.  This British paperback followed several different children in their magickal, transformative adventures at a country fair or circus.  There may have been encounters with a Faustian character, or it may have been more benign than that.  I don't think that the children were necessarily related (i.e., not like E. Nesbit's Five Children and It, or C.S. Lewis's Narnia sibs), but there were both boys and girls.

Enid Blyton, Circus of Adventure
Could you be thinking of the Adventure series?  Four children (and a cockatoo) got on a series of adventures around the world. There is a Circus of Adventure title.
Arthur Calder Marshall, The Fair to Middling 1959, copyright. I think this is the solution, the children, orphans I seem to recall all go to the fair and experience something personal to each of them, which changes the way they think. One I remember was a colour blind girl with auburn hair, who was able to see what the colour was. It was not a conventional plot.
Arthur Calder Marshall, The Fair to Middling 1959. I am pretty sure this is the one.
Bill Brittain, The Wish GiverThree Tales of Coven Tree. Im pretty sure this is the book you are seeking... a strange man in a carnival tent gives four different children a card with a red spot that allows them to make a wish.
Arthur Calder Marshall, The Fair to Middling. I think The Fair to Middling must be the book in question. I read it in my Englsih childhood and it was definitely a Puffin or perhaps a Peacock (for teenagers). The character I most remember is an albino boy. Its unusual and brilliant.

C608: Children's book compilation, late 70's
Children's book compilation from the late 70's.  3 books - there may have been more, only remember 3.  Each book contained three stories with real photographs.  Each book also came with a 45 record.  One book was red, one blue, and one yellow.  Yellow - had Ugly Duckling,  Blue, story of Jamestown.

C609: Collection of Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, and Poems (3 volumes)
My Mother purchased a 3 volume set from the Book of the Month club in the late 1970s.  It included Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, and Poems.  They were big and heavy books (about 10" wide and 15" long).  The covers were white/cream with either red, green, or blue bindings and each book was at least an inch thick.  I remember the illustrations inside were beautiful but there wasn't a drawing on the outside cover.  Some of the stories I remember are: Annabel Lee by Poe; Wynken, Blynken, and Nod by Field; Mr. Nobody; The Sugar Plum Tree; Something about what are little boys and little girls made of (frog and snails and puppy dog tails); and many, many more.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Is it possible that these are THE TALL BOOK OF MAKE BELIEVE, THE TALL BOOK OF FAIRY TALES?  Loved these as a child.

C610: Childrens mystery, renactment of event solves mystery, attic of house or mansion helps solve mystery
 I'm looking for a 50s/60 children's mystery. The only plot points I remember are that the girl and her friends put on a renenactment of an historical event in the attic of an old house/mansion. I think the girl plays a dying mother. As she recites her lines, the solution to the mystery becomes clear.

Phyllis Whitney, Mystery of the Strange Traveler. Who was the mysterious passenger?  From the moment Laurie and her sister, Celia, arrive at their Aunt Serenas home on Staten Island they attempt to find out.
Holly Beth Walker, The Ghost of Hidden Spring. 4th in the Meg Mystery series. The old Hannigan house is supposed to be haunted by the the ghost of Kathleen Hannigan who died as a child on the night of her birthday party.  Meg and her friend Kerry think theyve seen the ghost of Kathleen.  They actually have seen a descendent of Kathleen who is also named Kathleen and is a great-niece of the original Kathleen.  The little girl inherits the house if she agrees to live in the house and re-enact the tragic birthday party.  During the party, Meg and Kerry figure out what happened to cause the tragic accident of the original Kathleen.

Phyllis Whitney, Mystery of the Strange Traveler. Thank you to whoever posted the answer!! I also discovered which book it was after posting the stump. Great book too!


C611: Cats named Pinafore and Marmalade

I am looking for a book my father used to read to me in the 1950's.  It's about two cats.  The black and white cat is named PINAFORE.  The orange cat is named MARMELADE.  I think the title was MARMELADE AND PINAFORE. I can still visualize the pictures, but don't remember an exact storyline.

Virginia Cunningham. Those Cats,  1940s-1950s. This is the story.  A lonely single woman named Miss Simpson is given two kittens she names Marmalade and Pinafore by her mailman Mr. Tooks.  Later Mr. Tooks brings her two boys from an orphanage his sister runs, and later still he proposes marriage.  Its a short story in "Big Big Story Book" published by Whitman.  Coopyright dates listed are from 1944-1955.  I know I got my copy in 1964.
Virginia Cunningham, Those Cats 1949, approximate. The pictures that you remember are by Veronica Reed. Theres a woman who doesnt like cats, but is enchanted by two cats given to her by her mailman.  These cats are Marmalade and Pinafore.
Kathleen Hale, Orlando the Marmalade Cat, 1938, copyright. Just thought Id take a stab at this.  No cats named Pinafore, but the two cats depicted seem to match your description.
Virginia Cunningham (Illustrator Veronica Reed, Those Cats, 1947. Mr Tooks the postman gives Miss Simpson 2 kittens, and she names them Marmalade and Pinafore. If you scroll down near the bottom of this website (look for the post from 9/6/08) you can see a cover reproduction:http://goldcountrygirls.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html.
C612: Children's folktales
I am looking for a collection of children's folktales from around the world.  Must have been dated 1960-70s and has a story of the basilisk in it - was very scary at the time:)  Large hardcover with color illustrations.  Not much to go on, I know...
C613: Creepy Cousin
Book published in the late 1970s about a creepy cousin who visits a wealthy family in the month of March.  Lots of good descriptions of the rain, and of the house.  The girl cousin throws the creepy cousin a party, which doesn't go over well.  Mysterious marks on the walls and a ticking clock.

Lois Duncan, Summer of Fear
. Could this be Summer of Fear by Lois Duncan? "Soon after the arrival of cousin Julia, insidious occurrences begin that convince Rachel that Julia is a witch and must be stopped before her total monstrous plan can be effected."

Alas, no, thats not the book...

C614: Crayon drawings of armies whi fight over apples?
Little boy (ill?) in bed imagines his quilt to be fields and mountains - he draws armies of soldiers with his coloured crayons but his brother stamps on one of the crayons so he can't draw any more in that colour. I think they're fighting over apples - tree owner or owner of land they fall on?

Robert Louis Stevenson. This sounds like the RLS poem The Land of Counterpane from the anthology A Childs Garden of Verses, in which sick child makes hills, valleys, towns etc in his counterpane (quilt). But no crayon battle etc--are two memories being conflated here?


C615: Costume Party (Girls or Twins?)
In the 60's, I read a chapter bk about neighbor girls who decorated their bedrooms differently (one was cranberry/silver striped & one was a green leaf pattern)  Costume party with gauze over their eyeholes & stayed silent to confuse people but I might be confusing this pt. w/another bk about twins.

Another part of this book involved the two girls being in casts due an accident and their parents letting them surprise each other with a visit, dressing them up in red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July.


C616: Christian man badly burnt in light aircraft
I NEED TO TRACE A BOOK ABOUT AN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN WHO IS BADLY BURNT WHEN THE LIGHT AIRCRAFT HE IS FLYING CRASHES IN TERRIBLE WEATHER. THIS BOOK IS POST WW11 BUT NOT A RECENT BOOK.THE BOOK TELLS OF HIS MANY OPERATIONS AFTER THE CRASH AND HOW HIS FAITH SUSTAINS HIM THROUGHOUT HIS TRIALS.

Norman Williams, Terror at Tenerife. To the poster of C616:  not sure if this is your book, because I believe it involved a large commercial aircraft, but a Christian man is badly burned in this plane crash and must have many operations.  Book is Terror at Tenerife by Norman Williams.  There is another Christian book about the late astronaut Jim Irwin that also involves a plane crash:  Flight of the Falcon by Paul Thomsen.

Merrill & Virginia Womach, Tested by Fire, 1976. Perhaps it is this one.  I knew I had a copy of it, but couldn't find it at first.  Hope it's the right one.



C617: Childhood Library Book
This book would have been in the school library when I was a child.  It had dark pictures with black and white or perhaps oneother only.  This was a book of tales and I always remember a story with a tinker.  I think there was one with trolls also.
C618: Champion Fantasy Adventure

Young adult fantasy adventure. Published before 2000. Fantasy world w/ monsters, gods, humanoid races. Main character male, humanoid w/ rat-like features (I think?), larger than normal humans. Wields 6ft sword, became champion for God of Justice. Start adventure. Meets dual-wield lady human champion.

David Weber, Oath of Swords, 1995. Could it be Oath of Swords or one of the sequels?  The hero is a seven-foot-tall humanoid warrior with foxlike ears, who for some peculiar reason delivers all his dialogue in an Irish brogue.  He is a champion of the god of war and justice.
David Weber, The War God's Own. This sounds like The War God's Own by David Weber, which is the sequel to The Oath of Swords. Bahzell Bahnakso is a Hadrani, a humanoid with a fox-like ears, and has become the reluctant champion of the War God Tomanak (god of Justice). In The War God's Own he teams up with a woman warrior who is also a champion of Tomanak.
David Weber, oath of Swords. Sounds like one of the Bahzell Bahnakson books by David Weber.  Bahzell is a thinly disquised orc with foxlike ears and an annoying brogue.  He'\''s a paladin for the god of war and justice.
David Weber, The War God's Own, 1999, copyright. There's a good chance this is _The War God's Own_ by David Weber.  It's the second in a series.  The hero is Bahzell Bahnakson, and he's a hradani (very tall humanoids with fox-like ears and anger issues)  the human woman he meets is called Kaeritha.  You'll have no trouble finding a copy in order to check: it's part of the Baen Free Library, so you can read the whole thing for free if you want (from Baen's website).

Additional details: The main character's race is normally considered lower-class within the novel's setting, so people thought it odd that he was selected to be one of the few champions who represent the god of justice (or law or righteousness or some other good thing  can't remember the god's name).  These divine champions are held in high regard and are able to commune with the god directly.  The novel begins with the main character traveling with a sidekick (who also belongs to the lower-class humanoid race) to a large human city.  They visit a high church of the god to embark on some sort of quest.  While there, an arrogant human knight (not quite a champion) questions the main character'\''s worthiness of being a divine champion.  In response, the main character offers to prove his worthiness in a duel with the human.  Needless to say, the duel was one-sided.  The main character soundly knocks some humility into the knight, breaking his arm by repeatedly hammering into his shield with a 6 ft sword.  The knight ends up joining the main character's quest as a companion.  Not long after leaving the city, they meet a female human champion who wields two (much smaller) swords simultaneously.  She joins the main character's quest as well, and during daily practice duels she demonstrates that her fighting prowess is on par with the main character's.  Their first major battle is with a giant worm.  They emerged victorious with perhaps some minor wounds.  Unfortunately, that's all I can remember.  Would appreciate any leads to try to find this book again.  Thanks!

David Weber, Oath of Swords (and sequels).  This seems a likely possibility.  The hero is a thinly disguised orc with foxlike ears who is a paladin for the god of war and justice.


C619: Crocodile in Bathtub
My stumper is about a book I used to listen to on record in the 1970s about a crocodile in this family's bathtub.  I think the dad was a millionaire and there was some fear because the windows were open and the crocodile could have frozen in the tub.

Cordelia Drexel Biddle, The Happiest Millionaire / My Philadelphia Father, 1955, copyright. This is from Cordelia Drexel Biddle's story, originally called MY PHILADELPHIA FATHER, but made into a movie by Disney and called THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE.   The book was reissued in paperback with the movie's title, and another one called WALT DISNEY'S THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, by A. J. Carothers, was a novelization of the movie (which of course differed from the original book).

Bernard Waber, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, 1962, copyright. Lyle lives with the Plimm family in a brownstone in Manhattan and loves to take baths.  A grouchy neighbor plots to get Lyle sent to the Central Park Zoo.
Bernard Waber, The House on East 88th Street, 1963, approximate. Could this be one of the books about Lyle the Crocodile?
Happiest Millionaire Ever, 1967. There is a Disney about a millionaire family that keeps an alligator in a bathtub and someone leaves the windows open and the alligator freezes. Could you have had the record of this?
Bernard Waber, The House on East 88th Street, 1962, copyright. This is the first in the Lyle the Crocodile series. Lyle is found living in the bathtub when the Primm family moves into their new home. I remember the song, from the Disney film Happiest Millionaire, about a wealthy eccentric with crocodiles and a feisty daughter  I actually had a comic of the story when I was a kid. The crocodiles actually lived in a conservatory or greenhouse, and did nearly freeze at one point, but did recover. Your description also brings to mind the book Lyle Lyle Crocodile, where a family meets a friendly croc lounging in their tub. Hope this helps.
The Happiest Millionaire. Could this be from the Disney movie "The Happiest Millionaire?"  In the movie, Fred MacMurray play an eccentric millionaire who keeps alligators in his bathtub.
Cordelia Drexel Biddle, My Philadelphia Father. This sounds like My Philadelphia Father by Cordelia Drexel Biddle, which was made into the Disney movie The Happiest Millionaire.
Bernard Waber, The house on East 88th Street, 1975, approximate. Your question reminded me of this book I read as a kid, where a family moves into a house and find a crocodile already living in their bathtub.  There are a few books in this series, all about the crocodile and his adventures with the family.  Check out the Amazon website for The house on east 88th street, http://www.amazon.com/House-East-88th-Street/dp/0395199700/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4 and if that doesn't sound like the book, scroll down to the area that says "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought".  There you can view some of the other titles in that series.  Hope this helps!


C620: The Cookie Jar & Other Stories
I'm from Ireland-my granny (lived in Philadelphia) sent a kid's periodical to my mum in the 70's.  Had no cover when mum got it so think it could have been published in 50's/60's.  Contained stories & poems- the cookie jar, the witch, the candyman, halloween, apple-picking time, the sandman. Thanks.
C621: Choose an Adventure
Solved: Giants, Elves, and Scary Monsters

C622: Cursed House
Old house with curse: "the line is down, the land is dead, something, something, til white rules red. "Girl falling down stairs and getting caught by old woman house with L carved on either side of door.

C623: Citrus Ranching Family
A children's or YA novel I read in the 70s with a citrus ranching family testing whether the big freeze had destroyed the crop by testing the oranges to see if they would float .

Patricia Beatty, The Queen's Own Grove.

Beverly Clearly, The Luckiest Girl, 1958, copyright. Shelley Latham, 16, is invited to spend her junior year of high school with the Southern California family of an old friend of her mother's.  An only child, Shelley longs to leave her predictable boyfriend Jack behind and gain some independence from her mother who still regards her as a "child".  With her dad's encouragement, Shelley gets to leave her Oregon town and experience life among a bustling family and the "exotic" environment of San Sebastian where oranges and lemons grow on trees and river beds are dry.  I recall that the family owned an orange grove.  This is one of Cleary's best malt-shop books. 
I remember this book too, but unfortunately not the title or author. If it helps, I think there were also horses in the story, and it was set in California. I seem to remember the title of the book was also the name of the ranch, and it was vaguely Spanish (it may have been D'oro--or some translation of gold). It also seems like the author was in the E/F/G author section.
Patricia Beatty, The Queen's Own Grove, 1966, copyright. Amelia Bromfield-Brown travels from England through Canada all the way to Riverside, CA with her parents, brother Edmund, sister Theodora, and Grandmother Thorup for her father's health.  They purchase an orange grove which is threatened by white scale.  The children have to contend with their unruly neighbors, the Appelbooms.  They befriend their Chinese cook, Bill Lee.  Their father develops the method of putting the oranges in water to see if they float - frozen oranges float and good oranges sink to the bottom.  This saves the area's crop so that the farmers can ship out only the good oranges.  Grandmother Thorup has to contend with running into Hesketh Thorup who is the black sheep of the family.  Hesketh ends up saving the orange crops from the white scale by traveling to Australia and finding out that ladybugs will eat the white scale.
C624: Coworkers on Vacation
I'm looking for a fiction book about a group of coworkers who go on a vacation to some remote location and take along their wives.  The wives go out on a boat ride and return to see their husbands murdered.  They escape into the jungle and the story is about how they manage to survive.

Shirley Conran, Savages, 1987, copyright.Violent bestseller about five women and one man stranded on an island.   I read this when it was first released, and I still remember some of the scenes very clearly.  I suspect that certain aspects of it have been borrowed from it by the producers of "Lost."  Not for children!
Shirley Conran, Savages, 1987, copyright.I remember reading this one. The wives go out for a sail with a fishing guide, they return to witness their husbands massacred by local insurgents. The spoiled rich girls escape into the jungle and learn survival techniques from the guide, and struggle to last long enough to be rescued.

Shirley Conran, Savages. I saw a similar question answered on another Web site, but I didn'\''t think they were talking about the same book that I remembered.  So, I asked the question here and, in the meantime, bought the book.  In reading through it, I now remember things I had forgotten...it is the same book.

Shirley Conran, Savages. Hi, to the poster of the C624 stumper:  I'm pretty sure the book you're after is called Savages, by Shirley Conran.  (I have not ever read the book but have heard about it.  The reason that this book and its plot stuck in my mind is because I own a copy of another book by the same author, but on a totally different subject- a how-to book about housekeeping! I used to think, what a contrast between these two subjects.)
Conran, Shirley, Savages, 1987, copyright.  "From the author of Lace comes a spirited survival story undoubtedly destined to become another bestseller. When a group of Nexus executives brings their wives to the South Pacific paradise of Paui, vacation is not on their minds. Having found rare minerals on the island, they are determined to strike a swift deal for mining rights. But in their greedy rush to claim the prize, the men fail to take into account a rapacious general, who takes control of the island in a military coup and brutally executes all of them. Returning from a sail in time to see the massacre, the women escape into the jungle, where they painfullybut a bit too easilylearn survival tricks from the ship's captain. His subsequent death leaves the once shy Annie in charge of the rest: Silvana, a wealthy, distant matron  the athletic, high-strung Patty  outspoken Carey  and Suzy, a sensuous, spoiled child. Although misfortune rains down on the group, opportunity also has a way of magically appearing as these castaways battle jungle, cannibalistic natives and their own frightening desires with a gritty determination that belies their pampered pasts. Conran whips up excitement, tension and, at times, a horror-struck fascination that makes this tall tale an entertaining page-turner. "
Conran, Shirley, Savages, 1987. Nexus employees vacation in the tropics, but when they find precious minerals a general has them all killed. Their wives, coming back from a boat trip, escape into the jungle.


C625: Chief  Horse  Girl  Jumper
50's book, juvenile. All i can remember is a young girl that works in some kind of show or rodeo.  she is caring for and jumping a horse named chief, i believe.  she is forced by her cruel boss to jump over a car as part of the show.  she loves this horse and is always trying to protect him.  thanks for any help.

Patsey Gray, Heads Up!, 1956, copyright. The book you're looking for is Heads Up! by Patsey Gray (note, the "e" in Patsey isn't a typo, that's how she spelled it). Published in hardcover by Coward-McCann, reprinted by Scholastic in paperback. The girl is Peggy, the horse is Chief, an Appalossa, the mean trainer is Mr. Mac. I checked my copy and the car jumping incident is there just as you remember it. Gray was a prolific writer of juvenile horse books, you might want to check out some of her other books while you're at it!
C626: children mystery young boy who has a rowboat named the donut
This was a series of mysteries I read as a child.  All I can remember now is that the main character, a boy, had a little dinghy named the donut.

C628: Book Stumper: Children's Safety Songs Songbook
Solved: Irving Caesar's Sing a Song of Safety


C627: Copperknob
Book for girls, prob ages 9-12, hardback. Girl starts at  new girls' school (possibly boarding school), meets another girl called Coppernob because of her red hair, which clashes with green uniform. Have a feeling cover depicts blue uniform by mistake. Girl's and school's name likely in title.


 Elinoe M Brent-Dyer, Redheads at the Chalet SchoolThis is a very long shot but may be the one you are thinking of - the detaisl are not exactly the same but there are similarities. Flavia (nicknamed 'Copper'& 'Coppernob' is a new pupil at the CS  - I seem to remember that there is a plot device around her hair (spys trying to kidnap her because of her father?) I think the schools uniform *is* blue but one of the reasons she is pleased to have changed is becaue it suits her better than her previous school's green uniform.

Elenor Brent-dyer, Readheads at the chalet school. The chalet school is a series based around a boarding school in Switzerland. 


SOLVED: Thank you very much - as soon as I saw "Chalet School" I recognized the name. I had no idea it was one of a series!


C629: Children Scret Agents
Children's book I checked out of the Penn State Library sometime between 1969-71 about spies, or spy training, or secret agents. The book had lots of illustrations of a spy lurking around and practicing sword fighting, etc. I believe it was a story on how spies or secret agents were trained.

C630: Cat Eats People

 1970s illustrated book in which Cat keeps eating different people,some called Hottentots, until he meets a woodcutter, who cuts open cat'\''s tummy and lets everyone out. Cat has big bandage on tummy in the end. Might be danish.

Jack Kent, The Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale, 1970, approximate. A few others identified this book previously under the heading "Fat Cat."  I think the "Hottentot" you're thinking of is "Skohottentot."
Jack Kent, The Fat Cat, 1971, approximate. I remember this book, and I'm pretty sure this is the edition the requester is referring to, though there are other versions of this tale out there.
Kent, Jack, The Fat Cat: a Danish folktale. Definitely THE FAT CAT by Jack Kent. It also appears on your solved pages with a picture of the cover.~from a librarian
Jack Kent, The Fat Cat, 1971, copyright.
Kent, Jack, Fat Cat. I ate the gruel and the pot and the old woman too.  I ate Skohottentot(sp), Skolikenlot, five birds in a flock, seven girls dancing, lady with a pink parasol and a parson with a crooked staff and now I am going to eat you!  I love to use this one for storytime.
Jack Kent, Fat Cat.Sounds like this one in the solved section.
Kent, Jack, The fat cat : a Danish folktale, 1971, copyright. Definitely this one. A Parent's Magazine Press book - A cat grows fatter and fatter as he eats everyone he meets.  To make it confusing, there is another retelling called "The fat car: a Danish folktale" by Margaret Read Macdonald from 2001.


C631: Cocker Spaniel puppies
Children's book about litter of cocker spaniel puppies who live in a pet shop, and each of their journeys with their new owners. They all lead different lives and the tan colored one is chosen last to live w/a family. Not sure if it is a Little Golden book circa 1960.


C632: Close Knit Family
I'm looking for a book series that I read in the early 1980s.  The main characters were two teen girls who are related as aunt and niece even though they were the same age.  They were part of a large, close-knit family & lived in an American town around the turn of the 20th C.

Norma Johnston, A Nice Girl Like You. This sounds like it could be one of the later books in Johnston's The Keeping Days series. The online reviews will tell you that Saranne Albright is the niece of Tish Sterling (heroine of the first 4 books), but Tish has a much younger sister, Katie, who is Saranne's age even though she is her aunt, and by the time they are teenagers, the rest of Katie's large family is grown up.  It's interesting to realize that though the books feel very "small town", that town is the Bronx -- 100 years ago!
Norma Johnston, The Keeping Days,1973, copyright. Could this be the Keeping Days series. A lot of the elements sound familiar - ths close family - takes place at the turn of the 20th century, is a series of 6 (?) books and were published in paperback in 1981.


C633: Coloring Bunnies
A 1970s or 80s children's book. It was a book about baby bunnies living with the momma bunnie in a bunnie den (hole).  The bunnies colored on the walls of the den.  Two days after ready the book to my daughter, I found in the living room coloring on the walls.  My daughter now has a daughter and I would like to get the book for my granddaughter.

C634: Colt too ungainly to prance
Colt can't  prance.  Finally learns by accident...has to prance so he doesn't tromp on a family of baby rabbits that gets in his path.  Small picture book.  Now he's able to prance like all the other horses.


Hucklebones. Maybe Hucklebones?  "The story of a pony who was invited to the Steeplechase Ball but was very sad because he couldn't learn how to dance but then quite accidentally figured it out."

Mabel Watts, Casey the Clumsy Colt, 1954, copyright. A Whitman BIG Tell-a-Tale Book about a clumsy colt who must learn to be careful. (I've submitted this suggestion twice already, but it has not shown up in either of the last two updates, so here'\''s hoping third time's a charm!)

Mabel Watts, Casey the Clumsy Colt. A Whitman BIG Tell-a-Tale Book about a clumsy colt who must learn to be careful.


C635: children's illustrated bonnie prince charlie time travel
A large (red?)book contained the story of a young girl (dressed in a school girl's short plaid skirt--reminiscent of the 1920s or 30s or 40s? dropped waist?) who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie.  Time travel involved?  Definitely some black and white pen illustrations.  Maybe other stories as well?

Sally Watson, Highland Rebel,1960, approximate. This is a long shot, because there's no time travel involved, but you could be looking for Highland Rebel. The cover is red, and the girl on the front is wearing a boy's kilt...so she does have the plaid 50s look going on. :) In the story, Lauren wants to fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie, so she pretends to be a boy and rides around the countryside with her brother, looking for ways to fight for his cause. Unfortunately, she's captured by the British and put in prison. The story goes on from there with some adventures, new friendships, and a little hint of possible romance.Sally Watson wrote a whole series about this family...Lauren turns up in another book--The Hornet's Nest--as an adult and mother to one of the main characters in that book. (sorry to go on, I loved these books as a teen!)  

I don't have specifics for you - but I had a book with what sounds like the same story - my book was several hundred pages long, it was slightly larger than paperback sized hardback with a blue cover with some pictures on it.  It had one of those names like "best children's stories" that make searching for it impossible.  My book also had a story about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband (I think called How do I love thee).


Reply and update on "Stump the Bookseller" C635:  the book is definitely NOT "Highland Rebel"--but it could be the "best stories" item that is suggested in the following post (the book was several hundred pages long).  I seem to also remember that the pages were thick and uneven on the edges (whatever that is called?).  And I believe the book was quick definitely published before 1940 (given the illustrations I remember). 


C636: Christmas
1940s childrens' book about a family getting ready for Christmas.  Little girl baking with mother, cleaning house with kerchief on head.  Family in church on Christmas. Pictures on each page with some prose, hard yellow (I think) cover.  Lovely muted illustrations.

C637: Cauldron of Color

Childrens book from the 70s (I think)...medeival setting...each page was drawn like a "Where's Waldo book" for its time...the world is black and white and a man mixes up a cauldron of color and paints the world one color...then one other color, etc.  At the end all the colors mix in the world.


Lobel, Arnold, The Great Blueness and Other Predicimants, 1968, copyright. A wizard invents colors and gives them out to his village. Complaints ensue until all the colors are released together,

Arnold Lobel, The Great Blueness. This is definitely your book! A wizard invents the colors one by one, in his basement lab. There are lots of problems until people discover how to mix them. You can see a cover image here.  

Arnold Lobel, The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments, 1968, copyright. This is an old favorite, which is readily available. A wizard living in a gray world discovers blue, which everybody wants painted everywhere. The blue makes everyone "blue", so he invents yellow, and so on until the world is colorful.


C638: Cat, Runaway's Nickname

Solved: The Runaway's Diary


C639: Cobbler with a Dilemma
The book I'm looking for was a story book that my Grandma Hattie read me. My mom was born in 1943 so I'm guessing it was sometime around then.

It had several stories. One was about a cobbler who had a naughty green leprechaun in his home that played tricks on him. The cobbler decided to set a trap, and he caught it, but during the night the naughty leprechaun  had a change of heart and turned into a good gold leprechaun. Another story was about a little girl that had to polish the whole earth. It had a picture of her sitting on a rock polishing it with a rag. Another was about a paperdoll family. There were two old maids that went to visit people at dinner time so they would be invited to stay and eat with the paperdoll family. One of the old maids was named miss toothpick. I think the cover was pink. It was about 10 by 12 in size, and probably about 1 1/2 inches thick. It was illustrated with sketches, with just a little color here and there. Boy I would love to find that book! Thanks, Kim


Rowena Bennet, Sally De Frehn (illus), Lots of Stories, 1946, copyright. By Whitman publishing. Stories include Lucy and the Leprechaun, The Little Red Goblin, Down the Chipmunk Hole (about a French doll who falls down a chipmunk's hole), Mother's Game (the story about the paperdolls, Miss Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick, who dropped in unannounced for dinner), The Fairy Who Fell From the Nest, The Rainy-Day Fairy, The Bunny's Secret, Mother's May Basket, The Somersault, Big Ruth and Little Ruth, A Golf Ball Goes to School, The Roadster's Secret, and many more (74 poems and stories in all, 382 pages). Cover is yellow, with pictures of a jack-in-the-box and a toy panda, a little boy next to a doll buggy that contains a cat wearing a blue dress and bonnet, and right in front, a little girl in a pink dress, standing on a pink carpet, holding a yellow tulip and talking to the seated leprechaun, who is making a shoe. Pictures continue on the back cover, with a brown-clad elf fishing, a lute-playing minstrel, three children flying kites, and a boy skiing (with a squirrel and rabbit standing on the skis behind him). A scarecrow is pictured on the spine. There is another cover (probably a reprint) that is gray. It shows a little boy's head, arms and shoulders. He is leaning on a book and holding a soap-bubble pipe. Pictures from the stories appear in soap bubbles around/over his head, including a small dog, a yellow duckling in front of a red barn, a rabbit carrying a basket, a bluebird, and the seated leprechaun, making a shoe. I don't have a copy of this version, but since it is listed as "Lots of Stories", Whitman publishing, 1946, 382 pages, and 73 stories, I assume it to be the same book.

Rowena Bennet, Sally De Frehn (illus.), Lots of Stories, 1946. From the Solved Mysteries:  "Miss Hintamaster and Miss Toothpick are paper doll "old maids" cut from advertisements on How to Get Thin and How to Get Fat, and they appear in the story "Mother's Game". Other stories in this book include A Golf Ball Goes to School, Lucy and the Leprechaun, The Little Red Goblin, Big Ruth and Little Ruth, Peter and the Pumpkin, Down the Chipmunk Hole, Grandma's Story, The Unhappy Fir Tree, and many others. Cover is grey, with a picture of a smiling little boy in a yellow shirt lying on a throw rug, with a bowl of soap bubble mix and a bubble pipe in his hand. Illustrations from some of the stories appear in soap bubbles around/above him."


C670: Caro, brother in wheelchair, rose garden

Solved: The Rose Round


C671: Collection of Old Friends

Cat & Mouse in Partnership, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots (both illstd by Gustav Dore), The Brave Tin Soldier, The Tinderbox, Why the Sea is Salt, Beauty and the Beast (illstd by Walter Crane), and the Wonderful Tar Baby Story (illustrated by EW Kimble). Lg. book w/ others also-brown/orange/white cover.


Augusta Baker (editor), Best Loved Fairy Tales, 1974.This book does not have all of the stories mentioned, nor are the illustrations (by various artists) credited. But it is a large book with a brown/orange/white cover, fwiw...It has these stories (and more):Puss in Boots , The Brave Tin Soldier (Here as "The Steadfast Tin Soldier'), The Tinderbox, Why the Sea is Salt, Beauty and the Beast , and the Wonderful Tar Baby Story.  (and more)


C672:  Christmas
childrens' large oversized collection from the 1960s or 70s of Christmas stories --possibly a Big or Giant Golden Book -- with shiny pictorial cover. One story I remember had a tiny winged horse that flew in the window and pretended to be an ornament on an old fashioned Christmas tree. There may also have been a story about the Swedish custom of the daughter of the house wearing a wreath with candles on Christmas morning. These were very good quality illustrations.

Not a solution yet, but is C672 the same as P109?  That might help both parties
Corinne Malvern (illus)  Compiled by Gertrude Crampton, The Golden Christmas Book (A Big Golden Book), 1947. The story about the winged horse posing as an ornament is in this book. It is "Pegasus and the Star" by John Brangwyn. In it, the mythical winged horse Pegasus sees an image of a Christmas tree in a floating bubble, and goes to a village to learn more. The baker's wife is able to transfrom him into a frosted gingerbread winged horse to hang on the tree, so he can see it for himself - though he is terribly afraid of being eaten by mistake. He is very nearly eaten by a little girl, when a fire breaks out at the baker's house. Pegasus is restored to his own form and pulls the water cart to put out the fire. The book contains many other Christmas stories, and poems, including Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens, The Peterkins' Christmas Tree, The Cratchits' Christmas Dinner, A Visit From Saint Nicholas, and If I Were Santa's Little Boy, plus 10 songs and an assortment of riddles and puzzles. The front cover shows Santa with two small angel children seated on his lap: a boy in a purple robe, beating a yellow drum, and a girl in blue, blowing a trumpet and clutching a candy cane in her free hand. The wings on both children and the stars in the background are printed in a metallic golden ink.

C673: Children's Picture Book - Look Inside Family Homes throughout Time
80's or early 90's. Inside cover was yellow with illustrations. Large book. Picture of homes and the lifestyle a traditional family led during different time periods are shown, on two full pages. Reader can see inside home into the different rooms. There was a viking ship, a castle, and a mansion.

Usborne (publisher), The Time Traveller Book of Long Ago, 1984, approximate. From your description, I think you might be remembering this book (slightly hazily), especially if you're British. My copy is a hardback, whose cover (not inside cover, but not a dustjacket either) is yellow with four squarish illustrations.  It's a little bigger than A4 size, and half an inch thick.  It's an omnibus volume containing four original books: Knights & Castles, Viking Raiders, Pharaohs & Pyramids and Rome & Romans.  The first of those includes cutaway pictures showing life inside a castle, and the second one includes cutaway pictures showing life inside a Viking ship.  There's no mansion as such, but the cutaway Roman villa could be mistaken for one.  There's also a small picture of a fairly posh drawing room in each of the books (illustrating 1900, a stopping-point on the reader's journey back through time).The intent of the books is to show and tell children what it was like to live in those times, so the emphasis is on everyday life, not historical events. I can't find any pictures of this edition online, but Usborne books from the 1970s and '80s have a fairly distinctive look, and in particular, the Viking one was illustrated by Stephen Cartwright, whose style was unique (and charming)  you might be able to find enough to jog your memory (or convince you it's not the answer).One warning: it looks as if there've been a couple of reissues, as "The Usborne Time Traveller Books" and "Usborne Time Traveler", with different covers and slight changes to some of the illustrations, more recently.  Their covers look nothing like the book I have here.
Terry Martin, Open House, 1996, copyright.This was the American edition of the British publisher Dorling Kindersley's book.  It is a Lift-the Flap Book with over 90 flaps.  The cover isn't yellow but glossy with a picture of a 17th-C. Dutch home of wealthy merchants.  In addition, the book depicts an ancient Roman street with shops, a Scottish tower from over 500 years ago, an 1800's French farmhouse, and an 18th-C. typical British or American country mansion, a Japanese house from 200 years ago and an American store from the "Wild West".  Open the flaps and peer into the rooms of these buildings.


C674: Circus, Toile, black & white shifting to color, oddly shaped book 4" *10"
Oddly shaped little kid Cardboard book, like 4"*10" horizontal. The book was about a circus, it was all images, not sure if there were any words.  There were images of a circus like in a toile pattern and it started out in black & white and turned into colors as the pages progressed. early 70's.

Munari, Bruno, Circus in the Mist, 1969, approximate.

Thanks for the suggestion, Circus in the Mist is not it.  Please keep guessing!


C675: Children's Illustrated Mystery
I can't find a book that I read in the mid 1980's that involved kid's running around town in costumes, like batman and other super heroes, to solve a mystery or find a lost item.  I think they used wooden go-carts or scooters to get around town as well. It was a short book, around 20-40 pages.

John Peterson, The Secret Hideout. Since no-one has answered, I'm going to hazard a guess. Could it be The Secret Hideout? The kids find a notebook hidden behind a loose stone in the basement wall. It is the notebook of a secret club, and contains instructions on how to join. They have to make lion masks and pass tests/tasks. I could be wrong, but I thought that there were instructions at the back of the book for making a scooter out of a wooden box.
The suggestion is not correct.  It's a group of kids who all pretend to be characters from the DC comics: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and so on, and in their favorite personas, solve mysteries in their neighborhood.  They have a backyard treehouse they call "The Fortress of Solitude", and a suped-up go cart that is their "Batmobile". Any ideas?
Cindy West, The Superkids and the Singing Dog, 1982, approximate. I read this with my son not long ago, it's definitely the right book. The superkids are looking for a missing dog.
Odile Ousley and David Russell, On Cherry Street  Ginn Basic Reader, 1949. Could it be possible that the football team story you're searching for was in one of these school readers?  The cover is red with a yellow inset picture of an organ  grinder, his dancing monkey and a boy and girl.

C676: Children's Bible Storybook
Hardcover book, 4-5 stories about Jesus' interactions with people: a blind man, zacchaeus (the wee man), Jesus calming the storm, can't remember rest. Each story begins with solid color page corresponding to the story and ends with a few questions. Illustrations from an odd perspective.

C677: Childrens book with detailed illustrations and clues and a real treasure to find

Solved: Masquerade


C678: Children Sleeping (Homes?) Around the World
Published before 1990, probably 70s. I wanna say the title was "Where do YOU sleep?" Each page would start with that question(?) and then a new child would say, "I sleep in a bed" or "I sleep in a hut" or "...on the floor"...or "in an igloo," etc. Early, simple multicultural/global awareness.

Theo LeSieg (aka Dr. Seuss), Come Over to My House. This beloved classic doesn't have the recognizable Dr. Seuss pictures, but beautiful illustrations by Richard Erdoes instead, picturing houses and living styles around the world.
Come Over to My House. Could the requester be thinking of Come Over to My House, Come Over and Play? The book does have a page showing children sleeping in various ways according to their home/culture.
Theo LeSieg (better known as Dr. Seuss)  Richard Erdoes (illus), Come Over to My House, 1966, 1970 reprint, copyright. Sounds like you might be looking for this one. "Come Over to My House is a multicultural look at playdates around the world and the homes and young people that go with them. A little boy wanders across the globe and sees what life is like in different houses from thatched huts to tents in the wind to igloos."


C679: Countryside
Written (probably) 1940-1960 - wish I could be surer or more specific. I probably read it in c. 1965 at age 10 give or take, but it in retrospect it might have a late 50s-early 60s "feel" to it. Got it at yard sale, so purchase time/venue no help on that. A girl living in a city apartment with Mom and Dad (don't recall siblings, may have been 1 or 2) has to move with her family to the country - probably due to Dad's job, but not sure. Don't think there was any financial come-down. She very much enjoys roller skating in the city, but there will be few sidewalks or pavements, so that'll be out, and she is upset. For some reason, she is also asked to pare down her toys/belongings/games - I guess there will be less room - and she finds that upsetting, as well. The whole move is disconcerting and upsetting. I think she doesn't much care for the house/cottage when they get there. Naturally, once in the country, eventually she finds things to enjoy - the school, the neighbors, the small-rural-town chumminess of it all. She especially enjoys their winter fun, with a kind of cross-country ice-skating (I swear) over the black ice in the woods, it was especially noted, as a favorite pasttime. Don't remember much else, except there *might* have been some pencil or pen-and-ink illustrations - or maybe just on the dustjacket.That's it. Do let me know if/when/where you post this, and if there's anything else I can do for you, in terms of graphics/art, etc.

The Four-Story Mistake. Some details sound like Elizabeth Enright'\''s The Four-Story Mistake--the move to the country (somewhat reluctantly for Randy, the most sentimental child), and the skating through the woods.  But there was no paring down of stuff--in fact, it'\''s mentioned that they pack roller skates.  So maybe not the right book.
Ruth Sawyer, Year of Jubilo, 1940. I am pretty sure this is Ruth Sawyer's Year of Jubilo, not the Elizabeth Enright book. The girl is named Lucinda and this is the sequel to Roller Skates, which is a charming portrait of a young girl's childhood in NYC at the turn of the century. In Year of Jubilo, her father has died, and her mother and brothers must leave their city life for a more affordable home in the countryside. Lots of adventures ensue, and Lucinda decides her new life is not so bad after all. The books are semi-autobiographical and the author's daughter Peggy married children's author Robert McCloskey (Make Way for Ducklings
Ruth Sawyer, The Year of Jubilo. Perhaps it's the mention of the roller skates that reminded me. It has been years since I read The Year of Jubilo, which is the sequel to Roller Skates, so I don't remember the details, but it's a possible solution.  Lucinda and her family have to move to their summer cottage in Maine when her father dies.
Carol Ryrie Brink, Winter Cottage. This sounds vaguely like Winter Cottage, except that the family in question didn't intend to move into the cottage. It's set during the depression, and the family has lost their home in the city. Their car breaks down and they find a summer home that they decide to "rent" for the winter.  Probably not it, but the winter scenes sound very similar.


C680: Camping Trip
YA book about two high school kids who get separated from their camping trip.  I think his name is Richard.  Her name might be Claire.  They survive by eating oatmeal.  A bear gets into one of their backpacks and Richard breaks his leg before they are rescued.  Thanks!

Laurel Trivelpiece, Just a Little Bit Lost, 1988. Bennett is the girl, Phillip is the boy, but I'm fairly sure that this is the book.

C681: Children make newspaper
The book is about children who make a newspaper in the garage or some other building in the backyard and was probably published sometime between the thirties and the fifties. I remember it had a blue cover and I believe the last name of the author was White.
John D. Fitzgerald, More Adventures of the Great Brain.
Part of the "Great Brain" book series, set in Utah during the 1890's. In chapter four, "Tom Scoops Papa's Newspaper," eleven-year-old Tom is hurt when his father says he is too young to help him at the Advocate, the town's weekly newspaper. Tom asks his father if he can have the old printing press that is boxed up in the back room, so he and younger brother JD can practice being newspapermen. They set up the press in their barn, enlist some of their friends as reporters, and start up their own paper, The Adenville Bugle, to "compete" with their father's paper. When the town bank is robbed, Tom convinces one of his junior reporters - the son of the Cafe owner - to hide behind the counter and eavesdrop on the customers, hoping to discover clues leading to the identity of the robbers. Sure enough, Basil overhears the two robbers arguing about whether to take the money and leave town right away, or to lay low for a while to throw off suspicion. They even disclose where the money is hidden. Tom prints the story is his newspaper, then sends Basil and JD with a copy of the story to their uncle Mark, the town Marshal, so he can make the arrests. Once the arrests have been made, the boys sell out every copy of their newspaper. Unfortunately, they have also included as "local news" the embarrassing secrets and scandals of a number of the other townsfolk, leading to an angry mob, screaming, crying, fighting, and threatening lawsuits. Papa and Uncle Mark calm down the mob and Papa gives Tom a lecture on journalistic integrity and responsibility. Then, as punishment, Papa takes away the printing press, makes Tom personally apologize to everyone he has offended, takes away his allowance, and imposes the "silent treatment" on him and JD for four weeks.

C682:  Cindy or Skipper

Solved: Lone Swimmer, Haunted Island et al. Sindy Adventure Series

C683: Cat, kittens, lost, siblings, fifties
The book we are looking for was mine as a child (I was born in 1951). It was a larger book than the standard "Elf" books, maybe 8x11 inches. We "think" its a blue cover but don't exactly remember the picture. My children loved the book when they were at the grandparents house but we don't know what happened to it when the house was sold. Best we can remember, there were two children in the story (brother and sister? two friends (boy and girl)?) and they were looking for their cat which had gone missing. They searched high and low and finally found the cat with a new litter of kittens in a closet in the house. We found a book called Good, A Mother Cat by Inez Bertail, but the book cover does not look like what we think it should. Also found a book about a lost cat with kittens in a barn. Any help would be appreciated. I would love to find this book. Thank you so much for trying to help locate this.

Mabel Watts, Hildy's Hideaway, 1961. When I was about five, my great grandfather gave me this and asked me to read it to him. (He was blind at the end of his life.) After I read it, he told me I had done such a nice job that I could keep the book. I have never forgotten it!


C684: Children find new baby in backyard
The children find the baby in the garden-if this is garden meaning back yard, the story could be English. The buggy features in my daughter's memory of this book.The children seem to keep the baby's presence secret from the elders. She loved this story, and maybe because she was then an unwilling reader, has a poor remembrance of it. My daughters have become greatly desirous of finding grade-school stories and books, and just this summer I have retrieved King of the Dollhouse by Patricia Clapp, for my oldest daughter who is 45 y/o this month! Additional note: The children bathed the found- baby in an old-fashioned rubber- sling bath.For those of us old enough to have experienced bathing our own, or our Mother’s tiny babies in these contraptions,  the mere mention  should jog someone’s memory!

Teal, Val, Angel Child, 1946. You're not the first person who's asked about this book
Wylly Folk St. John, Mystery of the Gingerbread House, 1969. Was it a mystery? It could be this one...two brothers find a baby left in their yard, with a note on her that says her name is Joy. They're determined to solve the mystery. When a girl starts hanging around their house, they figure out she's the one who left the baby, and discover that her mother has died and she's trying to find her grandmother, so she can take in the sisters. (The kids are all ten and twelve.)  All she has is a photo of a fancy house. The boys help her follow the clues, while trying to avoid her stepfather. One of the things I remembered most about this book was that the girl cries "perfect tears"...fat drops that just well from her eyes. It  takes place in Atlanta, GA, if that helps.

C685a: Chess Playing Orphan on Mars
central character is a homeless boy, living on mars (I think), with a very thin atmosphere, meaning he's always looking for oxygen cylinders... This boy is also a chess player, and when he plays against someone, a move is recognised as a "family" move and he is re-united with his family.

Heinlein, Robert A, The Rolling Stones.
It's a long shot, but some elements of this request resemble "The Rolling Stones" by Robert A. Heinlein.

 C685: Corruption in the roman army
Scholarly book about fall of the Roman empire w/ evidence suggesting cause was gradual institutionalization of financial corruption in the military; local citizens began to consider the Roman forces their financial oppressors rather than their protectors. translated from french.  Not Ramsay McMullen...I am looking to acquire a particular source/scholarly book about the fall of the Roman empire that presented evidence suggesting one big reasons for the fall was the gradual institutionalization of financial corruption in the military.
 
I believe that is was translated from french originally; however, I am unsure of the title, or even the author! Many attempts as research has led to the suggestion that the book is Ramsay McMullen's corruption and the decline of rome; however, it turns out that this is not the appropriate volume I am looking for.  He says this title by McMullen is more "flamboyantly written" and "less scholarly" than the book he is thinking of, as its author makes heavy use of quotes.

The narrative he offers is this: "At first, military commanders were condemned and disciplined if they stole money from the shipments of soldiers' pay.  Then military commanders came to have a right to taking some of the money. Then so little of their pay was getting to the soldiers that they didn't have enough money to live on, so the soldiers began routinely looting the populations where they were stationed. Finally, the local citizens began to consider the Roman forces their financial oppressors rather than their protectors. As a result, the citizenry came not to care much when barbarians came to drive out the Roman forces."

Thus, I was wondering if you by any chance would be able to help me identify the author and title of this book referenced above, so I could go about acquiring it.

I'm just wondering whether this might be one of  Rosemary Sutcliffe's stories. She wrote several about the Roman Army in Britain. Including most notably ''Eagle of The Ninth."

C686: Cookie cutters, rabbit, carrot
SOLVED:The Bunny Bakeshop, 1989.

 C687: Rabbit grows carrots
I am looking for a book about a small rabbit who grows carrots. Near the end of the book, a small rabbit lays down next to his carrot to see who is bigger: the bunny or the carrot.   As I recall, the book was possibly called "A CARROT IS TO GROW" but I have never been able to find a book by this name on any search engine at places that sell old books.  The actual book was small - about the size of the Harold & Purple Crayon Books by Crockett Johnson.   It is not "THE  CARROT  SEED" by Ruth Krauss, though I recall the art work as being somewhat similar.   I read this to my daughter in the late 1970's or early 1980's.   Here's hoping someone knows the name of this book!

Robert Kraus, The Littlest Rabbit. The littlest rabbit is so little, even a carrot is bigger than him! It's by Robert Kraus.
Robert Kraus, The Littlest Rabbit. I'm pretty sure this is the right book  there is a picture of the rabbit lying next to a carrot to show his size.  When he finally grows bigger he beats up two bullies who are picking on little rabbits.

 C688: Cat face map opens secret door
A book (published before 1995) about a couple kids who are in a big old house. They find a crumpled piece of paper in the trash of an unused bedroom, which turns out to be a map. They eventually open a secret door/wall by pressing knots in the wood in a particular order (looks like a cat face).

Brent Locke, Mystery of the Hidden Cat. For sure.
This certainly seems like the book I remember, based on what little I can find about it on the internet. There is surprisingly little about the author or book anywhere! I remember it was a faded blue (fabric?) hardcover that I had checked out from my school library, and Mystery of the Hidden Cat was published in 1957 which sort of fits. I can't say definitively because I can't find a full plot summary anywhere, let alone the actual book. Thank you though!
Brent Locke, Mystery of the Hidden Cat. I haven't finished unpacking from a move and don't at the moment have access to my copy of the book, but here's what I remember (SPOILER WARNING):  Two girls (I can't remember any names, sorry) have a sort of hidden meeting place in the tall plants at the edge of the yard of a deserted old house.  One day they see people moving in  turns out to be a man, his daughter, and his sister.  Girls are afraid the plants will be cut down, but they bump into the new girl and she convinces her father not to cut them.  He is a writer, I believe, and is in poor health, and they don'\''t have much money.  He inherited the house.  There is fear that he will lose the house because someone loaned money to the previous owner and allegedly it was never paid back, and the person holding the debt wants to take the house (because there is story about hidden treasure).  The girls find a paper that leads them to believe that in fact the money was paid back.  They also find secret passages in the house, that among other things lead up to a hidden part of the attic.  There's a wall with knotholes, and they use the pattern of a drawing of a cat to know in which order to push the knotholes.  They find proof that the loan was repaid, and they find a room full of antique furniture.  (Details are sketchy  I read it only once after looking for years for a copy after someone recommended it).  There is a sequel, The Mystery of the Vanishing Jaguar, which is quite easy to find.


 C689: child pianist, car accident and convalescence at relations in country

SOLVED: Summer of the Silent Hands


 C690: colorful bird that teaches colors and counting
I think the book was made in the mid 80's, where a bird possibly a macaw or a parrot teaches colors and counting. On some of the pages he is holding a painters palet in one wing and a brush in the other. I think at the end of the book it shows you rectangles of all the different colors he taught you.

J.P. Miller, Do You Know Colors, 1978. A parrot with a palette flies through this book, introducing colors and explaining how they can be mixed to form new ones.The flora and fauna are labeled by name as well as color.


 C691: Childs illustrated poetry book
Childrens illustrated poetry book, inc a poem which I think is called A Child's Thought, by R. L. Stevenson (at 7 when I go to bed....). Pic is of a castle on a hill with a horse at the bottom. Another one of the poems relates to poppies, lady with poppies in her hair?

Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses.


 C692: Children need money to go to circus
The circus is coming to town and a sister and brother need money to go to the circus.  They plan to ask their babysitter/nanny/caretaker as her purse has been full of money.  However she has just purchased a new hat for which she has been saving.  How did they get the money?

Mary Nash, While Mrs. Coverlet Was Away. This may be While Mrs. Coverlet Was Away. The three Persever children are usually watched by their housekeeper, Mrs Coverlet, but she is called away by a family emergency. I can't remember why the children want money, but they try all different schemes. I believe they finally earn money through their cat (she's a rare breed, and they end up selling her or her kittens)


 C693: Cheese, Peas, and Chocolate Pudding
This is a picture book about a  little boy who will eat only different kinds of cheese, different kinds of peas and chocolate pudding. When his brother drops a hamburger crumb in the boy's mouth by accident, he likes hamburgers also. In the end he likes all types of food.
This is in the Solved Mysteries under ''C''.   It appears to be in a collection of stories, and its title is "Cheese, Peas, and Chocolate Pudding."

 C694: children's book, 1970's, "The Man Who Couldn't Read"
A man who can't read is sent to the store by his wife and instead of buying soup, ends up buying soap because the boxes look the same.   This is just one of many such misadventures.  (I'm hoping to surprise a good friend by finding this favorite childhood book! )

Irma Simonton Black, Seymour Fleishman, The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read, 1968. Its about a little old man who makes toys and cannot read. Children that play with his toys write him letters, but he cannot read them.Usually his wife buys the groceries, but she goes on a trip. While she's gone he has to get groceries. She asks him to get a can of soup, a big can of spaghetti sauce, spaghetti, sugar, milk and oatmeal. Since he can't read, he buys groceries by looking at the containers and the pictures.
Irma Simonton Black, The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read.
The Little Old Man Who Could Not Read by Irma Black and Seymour Fleishman, 1976.


 C695: Central/South America jungle, girl
This book was about a young girl who went to Central or South America (for a visit?).  It seemed very exotic to me as there were parrots flying around in the jungle.

Lloyd Alexander, The El Dorado Mystery. Could this be the book about Holly Vesper the intrepid 16 year old adventurer who goes to Central America to solve a mystery?
Eva Ibbotson, Journey to the River Sea, 2002. "In 1910, Maia, an English orphan, accompanied by her newly appointed governess, Miss Minton, sets off to Brazil to live with distant cousins. She dreams of exploring the banks of the Amazon and viewing exotic wildlife, but her self-serving cousins and their spoiled twin daughters despise the outdoors--almost as much as they despise Maia. The heroine feels like a prisoner, forced to live inside the "dark clinical green" walls of her relatives' bungalow. Her life would be dismal indeed, if she didn't sneak out every once in a while to meet up with two other orphans with whom she has crossed paths: Clovis, a traveling actor, who longs to return to England, and Finn, a rich heir, who would rather live with the "Indians" than be sent to the British estate where his grandfather eagerly awaits his arrival."  There are macaws in the jungle.

2011

C696: Cat or dog as chimney sweep in story/picture book
Solved: The Clean Sweep

C697: Collection of christmas stories / hardback book
This is a hardback, rather big book. yellowish cover with a black train at an angle on the left side and 3 children walking in the snow as the main picture. there is one story where they are in a cottage and an elf comes and gets turned upside down by the children and stuff falls out of his pockets

C698: Children's poems/stories anthology
Children's poems/stories anthology. 1950s. Included Table and the Chair, Walrus and the Carpenter, O. Henry's The Gift, Casey at the Bat, etc. Several-hundred double-column pages. Based on browsing stumper entries the other day, I strongly suspect it may be the "Arbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature" (double columns, 1000+ pages), but can't be sure without seeing a Table of Contents. Update: I determined that the Arbuthnot Anthology is defnitely NOT the one I'd suspected it was. Shucks!! Maybe someone will have a clue....

Johnson, Sickels, Sayers,  Anthology of Children's Literature. A long shot, but if it was a children's lit anthology, the Johnson, Sickels, & Sayers collection first appeared circa 1938.  (The stories and poems listed in the post are not in the 5th edition, from the 1960s, but might be in earlier editions.)  Also, Arbuthnot had a 1952 collection, Time for Fairy Tales Old and New, in addition to her anthologies.

 C699: Chief Joseph biography or fictionalized history
Back in 1972 in 8th grade I read a book about Chief Joseph which inspired me to memorize and recite his famous speech for my class.  The book had a beautiful painting of Chief Joseph on the cover.  the author was male and wrote several other biography type books that I remember enjoying.

Shannon Garst, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce,
1968. I don't know if this is the book you're looking for, from your description, but Shannon Garst was a popular YA biographer in the '50's and '60's. Other biographies include Crazy Horse, Kit Carson, Custer, Will Rogers, Jack London, Buffalo Bill, and Amelia Earhart, plus many more. Some of the covers were illustrated with colorful realistic portraits.

C700: Children's book-Teacher disguised as a witch to teach a lesson
SOLVED: Harry Allard and James Marshall, Miss Nelson is Missing!
C701: Cow that says "When I'm calling moo-moo-moo"
I'm looking for a children's book read to us in the 2nd grade (1982) about a group of farm animals.  I remember the cow would say "When I'm calling moo-moo-moo".  She also tried to jump over the moon like the nursery rhyme and the animals tried to build a swimming pool out of bricks.

Walter R Brooks, Freddy series. This is a real long shot, but could this be one of the "Freddy the Pig" series?  There were three cows, Mrs Wiggens, Mrs Wogus and Mrs Wurzburger, and I have a dim recollection of one of them trying to jump over the moon in one of the books.  The other things, such as the singing, would certainly be true to the spirit of the books.

C702: Childrens Anthology from late 50's/early 60's
The stories I remember are The Nightingale and a story about a barn that caught on fire, but since it was full of popcorn-the farm was soon filled with popped corn. The "Emperor's New Clothes" might have been in it too. It was about 10" squarish, with a mostly green cover. Many thanks!

Pauline Rush Evans(ed), The Family Treasury of Children's Stories, Vol 2, 1956. This is the 2nd in a 3 volume set, the cover has story characters colored mainly green. The story about the barn burning and the popcorn is one of Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga stories: The Huckabuck Family And How They Raised Popcorn in Nebraska And Quit And came Back, its on pages 148-152. The Nightingale isn't in this volume or the other two, but The Emperor's New Clothes is the very first story in this volume.
The popped corn story is The Huckabuck Family, by Carl Sandburg. I think that Sid Flieschman may have written a version in his McBroom series as well. I don't know the anthology, but maybe having the title of the story could help?
C703: Children's verse (anthology)
This is a golden book, published in the late '40's, early '50's. Included were poems such as "I'm hiding, I'm hiding", some of Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson (When I was sick and lay abed); there once was a puffin, and an elusive one about a key to a cupboard and in it were banburry tarts.

Your "elusive" poem is The Cupboard, by Walter de la Mare.
Jane Werner, editor, The Golden Book of Poetry, 1949. This one contains The Puffin and the Penguin, The Cupboard, and quite a few by Stevenson and Walter de la Mare.  Not sure about "I'm Hiding," though.  Pictures by Gertrude Elliott.  My copy is a large yellow book with a boy in a red sweater and a girl in a blue dress walking down a lane on the cover.

C704: Children grown down in size
Land where childern start off at their adult size and grow downwards. Also, a kid is punished and has to dig a hole through a mountain. From the same book.

Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth.
1961. The book you want is probably The Phantom Tollbooth.  The boy who grows down from his adult height is definitely here.  There is also the event of digging a hole in a mountain, although it's not so much a punishment as a tedious task to keep the hero, Milo, from completing his quest.  He is trying to rescue the sister Rhyme and Reason from their tower atop the mountain, to restore sanity to the kingdoms of Digitopolis and Dictionopolis.
Phantom Tollbooth.
Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth, 1961. Milo, a young boy who finds everything boring, discovers a magic tollbooth in his room one day and takes a ride into the Kingdom of Wisdom.  He goes on many adventures and visits a forest where people are born into their adult height- they grow down and eventually hit the ground.  On the way to save the Princesses Rhyme and Reason, Milo is sidetracked by the Terrible Trivium who presents him with tasks such as sharpening pencils and digging through a mountain with a spoon.  Hope this is what you're looking for!

C705: Children's book set in english country estate called Castle Combe
SOLVED: Norman Dale, The Casket and the Sword, 1956.

C706: Christmas doll buried
 The first is about a book with a girl who gets a new doll for Christmas. The doll gets  buried out in the snow by a jealous cousin I think, and found again in the spring. Someone's name is Elizabeth, maybe the doll.

Is it possible that the poster is thinking of more than one story?  Because the lost doll named Elizabeth (with the connection to Christmas) sounds like Magic Elizabeth, by Norma Kassirer.  But the jealous cousin...that sounds more like Twin Spell/Double Spell by Janet Lunn...or the lost doll could be The Most Wonderful Doll in the World, by Phyllis McGinley, or even On the Banks of Plum Creek, where Laura's doll is taken by a neighbour child and then left in a puddle.
Eloise Lownsbery, Marta The Doll. Probably not the one you are looking for, but does have Christmas & the doll lost in snow. "Hanka is next to youngest in a Polish farm family. Older sister knows how to do housework, big brother is wonderful at carving and herding, but six year old Hanka is not useful for anything. She longs for a doll -- longs so greatly that older sister gives up a new skirt so Hanka can have a beautiful doll. Everywhere that she goes Hanka takes her dear Marta -- Grandpa tells stories, they go to a wedding, and the little mother explains everything to her child. One day when she is coasting, hanka loses the doll in the snow. Her grief is almost to great to bear until she is prompted to believe the doll will be returned to her. On Christmas Eve, Burek, the dog, brings a slightly paler Marta home and the whole family shares in Hanka's happiness. The feeling of loving family ties, of cherished legends and celebrations, makes a pleasing background for Hanka's poignant little story."
Liesel Moak Skorpen, Elizabeth, 1970. You're thinking of "Elizabeth" by Liesel Moak Skorpen, illustrated by Martha Alexander (1970). Kate gets a cloth doll for Christmas instead of the walking, talking doll she wanted. She gives it to her collie, James, and he buries it out in the snow. After lunch, she regrets this and takes the doll back. Kate names her Elizabeth and they become best friends. There is a mean cousin in the book -- during a trip to the beach, she tosses Elizabeth into the ocean (but James rescues her). This book is very hard to find, but is still a favorite in our house at Christmastime!


C707: Christmas Story Collection
A book of Christmas stories I had in the early 80's. There were many stories in it, but the only one I remember is one where Santa's sleigh gets stuck in a bog and someone helps him out and saves Christmas.

C708: Clarinda and the Ducks
I'm looking for a children's book probably written/published in the 40s or 50s.  We think it's title is: Clarinda and the Ducks.  It's about a little girl who's very dirty and doesn't want to take a bath.  She finally does and a duck comes up through the drain.  Then she follows the duck down the drain and into the river.  and so on.  It has some line drawing pictures.  Anyone know anything about it?

Frances Duncombe, Clarinda, 1944, approximate. According to the New Yorker, an "airy tale of a little girl who, when she felt rebellious, had a habit of popping down the bathtub drain into a world of talking ducks . . ."

C709: Car with headlights for eyes and grille for mouth
I was a four or five when I saw this book.  I was born in 1954.  I don't remember reading, though there certainly must have been a title and story.  The cars and other vehicles had eyes in their headlights (not in the windshield like the movie "Cars"), but their grilles were mouths (like "Cars").  The story was set in a city landscape.  There may have been a steam shovel.  Some of the cars were unhappy with the main character.  I think they even beeped at him.  My sense is that he was lost, but he found his way home.  Thank you for any help you can give in naming this book.

Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, The Two Cars. This may be the one you remember.

In regards to C709, your comment that it might be "The Two Cars" is in the right decade (1955 when it was first published), but I checked on Amazon at their "Look Inside" page, and the illustrations are not what I remember.  Yes, the headlights are like eyes, but the bumpers and grilles had more expression to them in the book I recall.  Thank you for telling me about this one though.  

Emerson, Caroline, illustrated by Paul Galdone, The Little Green Car, 1940. This matches your description of the headlight eyes and grille mouths. The story begins with other cars and being frustrated with the little green car and beeping at him. We have a copy here at Loganberry!


C710: Cowboy herds and finds lost horses
I remember this picture book from the early 1960's. The cowboy has to find lost horses one at a time. I think he had started out herding them and they had become lost. The color drawings were not realistic but more childlike I think.

C711: Castaway girls on island
Probably from late 80s or early 90s and less than 200 pages. There were teenage girls on an island (no boys, from what I remember)--I think they were shipwrecked, but I'm not sure. The only plot points I remember were that one girl was jabbed in the leg with coral and there was a run-in with a shark

William Golding, Lord of the Flies, 1954. Other than the mention of teen girls, your description is very similar to this excellent but dark book. Are you sure they were girls??
Linda Williams Aber, Lost Girls (Book #1 "Adrift" and Book #2 "Alone"), 1990, approximate. Maybe a long shot, but this two-book series is a possibility: "An improbably incompatible crew of six sets sail for a week-long cruise in this first volume of a new series. There is a good deal of bickering among the girls ... But survival rather than squabbling becomes the girls' main concern when a sudden storm sinks their boat, and they take refuge on a deserted island.
Marianne Wiggins, John Dollar, 1989. Somewhat gruesome and definitely not for children, but it is about girls shipwrecked on an island.   (At the time, much was made of the fact that the author was married to Salman Rushdie and came out of hiding with him to promote the book.)

C712: Children's Short Story Collection
I remember one story was about a kid making a little person out of an acorn and some pins. The only other story I remember from the book was about a girl taking a lion, named Noil, to school to scare bullies, and she ended up becoming more confident on her own. I don't remember the other stories.

C713: Character named Peaky, obsessed with Jo March from Little Women
Looking for a young adult novel from the late 1960s or early 70s. Main character was a girl named Peaky who was semi-obsessed by Jo March from Little Women. She is sent to a boarding school during WW1 (?) during an outbreak of Spanish Influenza. Need title and author.

Lavinia Russ, Over the Hills and Far Away, 1968. It sounds as if this might be Over the Hills and Far Away (with a British title of  And Peakie Lived Happily Ever After).  It's set in 1917, with a twelve-year-old protagonist who goes off to a private school during the course of the story.

C714: Children's SciFi series, hardcover gray slender rock and star?
1979 Grade 5  Several stories per book.  Gray clothbound with small colored simple picture, a rock and a star.  The boy scuba dived in the waterfilled cave with the star.  He became a star.  Or only one jungle left on earth, as they escape with animals, machines tear last jungle down.  Thanks!

C715: Crazy old woman; children's story; upside down picture
Children's story about an old woman who had her home set up strangely that everyone thought she was crazy.  Every "strange" thing was logical when they got to know her.  The picture of her husband hung upside down on the wall (or maybe the ceiling) so that she could see it when she was lying down.

Betty MacDonald, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Series.
This is a series. The first book was written in 1947, yet it is still available in bookstores today. It's about a women who moves into a neighborhood and her house is upside down and she proceeds to cure the bad habits of the children in her neighborhood. Everyone thinks she strange, but as she helps them they come to love her.
Norris, Pamela?, Mr. Bailey, 1980s, approximate. This sounds like an episode of the 1980s TV Show Designing Women. The characters have a client who dies and leaves all her money to her cat, "Mr. Bailey." They find her house decorated in a strange way, with the dead woman's husband's picture upside down, car license plates nailed to the walls, etc. It's later found that there's a logical explanation for everything - the portrait is hung that way so the woman could see it while lying on the couch  the license plates are valuable collector's items, and the cat actually earned all the money starring in a commercial. The episode was called "Mr. Bailey" and it is credited in IMDB as written by Pamela Norris. Maybe you are remembering the TV show as a story, or maybe it was based on a children's story, maybe plagarized? or maybe Ms. Norris just didn't remember she had read the story before.

C716: City under the sea, crystal, Saa, dome
SOLVED: Gerry Turner, Stranger From The Depths, 1967.


C717: Caveman twins
When I was a kid in the early 70s, I read a whole set of picture books or easy readers about brother and sister twins who traveled to different places and times. The only one I clearly remember is when they became cavekids! I think they also went to France and to outer space, but I'm not sure.

Any chance that this is Lucy Fitch Perkins?
Lucy Fitch Perkins, Cavetwins,
1916, reprinted in 1968.  Firetop and Firefly go to prehistoric times
I don't think it's the Perkins books, though the listing of titles sure looks right. I thought the books I read were shorter/younger and the illustrations simpler/younger/cleaner. I feel like if I could see the covers, I'd be able to tell. I'll explore further on this set and anything anyone else has to suggest--thanks.

C718: Cereal Box Cutout Magical World is Thrown in Fire
SOLVED: Aiken, Joan, The Serial Garden.

C719: Circus dog
SOLVED: Dorothy Kunhardt, Pee Wee the Circus Dog or Now Open the Box, 1948.

C720: Children's book about boy and bears with fill in the blanks
The book was great because it was a different story every time I read it.  There were blanks in the text and you pulled out a slip of paper with a word on it.  This would have been around 1963 or 1964 (I was 8 or 9).  I think the story was about a boy and some bears. Yellow cover?

C721: Children marooned on sinking island
SOLVED: Helen Mather-Smith Mindlin, Dangerous Island, 1956.

C722: Classic Fairy Tales
White hardcover book w/ title "Classic Fairy Tales" on the front with blue letters. Below title is illustration of Cinderella and Prince at ball c.1700s. Cinderella has a white powdered wig and a golden/yellow dress. First/last pages forest w/ characters. Author unknown pub. 1980s-early90s.

Hadaway, Bridget, Fairy Tales
. I just suggested Hadaway's book a few weeks ago to another stumper, but I think it could what you are looking for as well. It has a number of familiar fairy tales with beautiful illustrations, and was printed from 1971 to sometime in the late 80's. Check out the solved mystery pages for more information.

C723: Child finds room with mechanical toys
SOLVED: Gillian Cross, Roscoe's Leap.

C724: Collection including Indian girl visiting pool daily
The book I am looking for was most likely published in the 50`s. It was a book with several stories in it, but the one that comes to mind was an Indian girl going to a pool of water daily. The turtle in the water always tells her how beautiful she is, tricks her into falling in the water.

E. Dolch,
I know I've read that story and I believe it may be in one of E. Dolch's books. Could be Pueblo Stories, Wigwam Stories, Navajo Stories, Teepee Stories, Lodge Stories -- he had a whole series of _____ Stories books.

C725: Ciphers and codes explained to brother and sister by mysterious older man
The kids learn that ciphers and codes are part of everyday life...for instance, the numbers inside the girl's shoe give information about the origins of the shoe. The man also gives them puzzles to solve and shows them how to send ciphered messages. I think they find out he was in the war?

Clifford B. Hicks,
Alvin's Secret Code, 1963. The Alvin books are classics. There is even an alvinfernald.com website!
Clifford Hicks, Alvin's Secret Code, 1963. When Alvin and Shoie find a secret message, they first try to break the code themselves. Then, they visit a man who knows more about codes and ciphers than anyone in town: Mr. Link, a former spy. He teaches them--and readers--how to be ace decoders. Soon they're using their skill to solve a dangerous mystery!
Clifford B. Hicks, Alvin's Secret Code. Could this be the right book?  It's been a while, but I do remember that Alvin gets a huge discount on a stereo(?) from a department store because they are claiming it's the newest thing and he deciphers their code and proves that in fact they've had it for months.  Alvin's little sister is Daphne ("The Pest").

C726:Children's book about a crocodile or alligator
I was born in 1965 an had a book when I was a child about an alligator or crocodile that went to an elderly lady's home to help her when she was sick.  From my memory the book was nicely illustrated.  The lady lived in an victorian house and one page shows her 4 post bed with a canopy.  Thanks.

Martha Sanders,
Alexander and the Magic Mouse, 1969. Harriett guesses Alexander and the Magic Mouse. You can see solved stumpers, here,  for more discussion and a cover picture.
You are right the pictures are very nice in this book, but I don't think this is it, only because it does not reference the elderly lady being sick.
We'll keep trying!
Bernard Waber, The House on East 88th Street, 1962, approximate. It's got a crocodile and a Victorian house - not exactly the plot that the requestor detailed but memory does play tricks!
Tomi Ungerer, Crictor. The details don't fit exactly, but since it hasn't been answered- my gut instinct is that the person is thinking of CRICTOR by Tomi Ungerer
The details remind me of a story about an old lady in a Victorian mansion who lived with animals she'd befriended over the years, including the mentioned alligator, a yak, a wise mouse, and one I don't recall. The mouse and old lady predict a lengthy storm that threatens a nearby town and ultimately only the alligator is able to reach the people and warn them. As I recall, it was the alligator who then got ill and rested in the four-poster bed, tended by the old lady. Hope this helps.
Martha Sanders, Alexander and the Magic Mouse, 1969. Please take a closer look at Alexander and the Magic Mouse. The alligator (Alexander) gets sick, and one picture shows the Old Lady sitting on the edge of the bed with a cup of tea. The bed is quite a large structure, with a wooden frame and red curtains with tassels.

C727: Caterpillar named Burfur and a bird named Phoebe
SOLVED: Roderick Remmele Huff, Chip, 1958.

C728: Canadian Horse named Tucky
Looking for a book about a Canadian horse named Tucky or Tuckie.

C729: Codes and Ciphers
Children's book, late 60s or early 70s, probably published by Scholastic Books, kids learn about codes and ciphers, In one part, the figure out the date codes on the tags at the stereo store and get a better deal. Takes place in a town by a river with bluffs. There is a mystery involved.

 Might this be the same book as C725?
Clifford Hicks, Alvin's Secret Code.
Clifford B. Hicks, Alvin's Secret Code. Definitely the same book. 


C730: Children's literature textbook
This is an oversized book that is approx 3 inches thick. It has all different cultures and mythology in it. One of the stories is " the girl with 7 names". It was used in teacher education classes around 1950 I think. Paper is very thin - almost like tissue. I remember that it had hundreds of pages.

Well, "The Girl with Seven Names" is by Mabel Leigh Hunt and was published in 1936.  Some big books from around that time with that story include A basic book collection for elementary grades, American Library Association, 1951  What books for children?: Guideposts for parents, by  Josette Frank, Child Study Association of America - 1941 - 462 pages  Character formation through books: a bibliography, Catholic University of America - 1945  A book of children's literature, by  Lillian Hollowell - 1950 - 697 pages.  The right book for the right child: a graded buying list, by Mary Stanclyffe Wilkinson, Winnetka (Ill.). Board of Education. Research Dept - 1937 - 389 pages.
Evelyn Ray Sickels, Anthology of Children's Literature, 1948, approximate. The Sickels anthology is from the period specified and includes "The Girl with Seven Names"  the story is also in the 1959 edition edited by Edna Johnson, Evelyn R. Sickels, and Frances Clarke Sayers (but apparently not in later editions).  I think the early editions have thin paper, and they were designed for use in children's lit courses.  

C731: Colonial boy kidnapped by Native Americans
Book I read late 60's about a young boy being kidnapped by Native Americans. Set during Colonial times, the boy witnesses the raid which destroys his home and perhaps kills his family.I think title is character's name. Vivid account of ceremony where man is accepted into tribe.  Returns home

Mary Smith, Boy Captive of Old Deerfield,
1930, approximate. This one doesn't have the boy's name as the title, but it does fit your description. 
Conrad Richter, The Light in the Forest, 1953. Might be this one, captured boy who eventually returns home but doesn't fit in there anymore.

C732: Cow by train tracks
Maybe a Little Golden Book, might have been about a train, but not sure.  I remember the song or poem towards or at the end of the book: I'm moo moo the cow I eat lots of hay I sit on the track for most of the day. & went on to say made milk for boys and girls, may have been a boy & girl in picture.

Puff 'n Toot.
Found the rest of your poem on another website, along with the title:

 "i'm moo moo the cow/ i eat lots of hay / i sit on the tracks / for most of the day
my milk is so goodit doesn't take long / for all little children / to grow big and strong"


C733: Children's story book
50's children's story book. Three of the stories:  How the Rabbit Lost His Tail (by catching sun in a trap); Spring Comes to the Forest (she arrives late, animals take baskets of eggs to village children to let them know she's come); man puts pot of gold under large stone in road beside his house.

C734: Clocktower protects village
SOLVED: Jay Williams, The Question Box.

C735: The Cherry Street Gang
Children's book, 1940s or 1950s, about kids in a neighborhood getting together a football team to play another neighborhood's team. May have Cherry Street or Oak Street in the title. Team name may be the Cherry Street Gang.

Odille Ousley and David Russell,
On Cherry Street, 1957, approximate. Published by Ginn Basic Readers.

This was a great guess, but that’s not the book. On Cherry Street is a collection of stories; the book I’m seeking is one story, a short children’s novel. It’s really nice that folks pay attention and respond to the queries, and nicer still that you post them.


C736: Clues and pictures used to solve mysteries (not "Black Hand Gang", but similar idea)
Early 80s-Scholastic?Clues used to solve mystery in each chapter. Had a group of kids, one had a little sister. In one chapter it was Halloween and they had same ghost and monster costume as other kids except their ghost had three eyes. In another they were trying to find out who ate a blueberry pie

Crosby Bonsall, The Case of the Hungry Stranger. That's the one with the blueberry pie.
Crosby Bonsall, The Case of the Hungry Stranger. They are the Private Eyes Club (Skinny, Wizard, Snitch, and Tubby) In THE CASE OF THE HUNGRY STRANGER the kids are trying to figure out who ate Mrs. Meech's blueberry pie. There's also THE CASE OF TTHE CAT'S MEOW, THE CASE OF THE SCAREDY CATS, THE CASE OF THE DUMB BELLS, THE CASE OF THE DOUBLE CROSS
Crosby Bonsall, The Case of the Hungry Stranger. Definitely the "Private Eye Club" books by Crosby Bonsall.  The Case of the Hungry Stranger  The case of the double cross  The case of the dubm bells  The case of the scaredy cats  The case of the cats meow.    I still have my Scholastic book club edition of The Case of the Hungry Stranger - where Mrs Meech's blueberry pie is stolen from her windowsill.  The Private Eye Club (no girls allowed!) consists of four boys - Wizard, Skinny, Tubby and Snitch.  They are still in print (though with full colour pictures) as part of the I can Read series. 
Marvin Miller and Nancy K. Robinson, T*A*C*K into Danger, 1983.It's "T*A*C*K into Danger". There's a series of the T*A*C*K books, but this is the particular one with the blueberry pie and Halloween story.  TACK stands for the kids names: Toria, Abby, Chuck, and Will (Code name K). The little sister mentioned is Holly, younger sibling of Toria.

C737: Cheese man has cheese stolen; brother and sister help him
SOLVED: Virginia Sorenson, Miracles on Maple Hill.
C738: Collection of scary short stories, maybe Scholastic

SOLVED: Nora Kramer, The Ghostly Hand and Other Haunting Stories.

C739: Car breaks down and find magic abode
I read a book as a kid about people who either travel to or get lost/car breaks down and end up at a remote home/hotel constantly referred to as the  "____ abode".  They go in and visit the crazy rooms and things that go on in the house ie furniture on the ceiling etc., aged 7-12 1990's HELP!!

Eth Clifford, Scared Silly.
Sounds like it may be SCARED SILLY by Eth Clifford. Sisters Mary Rose and Jo-Beth and their father stop at the Walk-Your-Way-Around-the-World Museum, which is a magician's house and a shoe museum. But it's very strange, with one room containing furniture on the ceiling, secret passages and strange inventions
Eth Clifford, Scared Silly. Mary Rose and Jo Beth Onetree are with their father, who stops to see a shoe museum. Unfortunately, the bridge falls in the river after they cross it, so they're trapped. It turns out the shoe museum is just the tip of the iceberg...the family that runs it lives next door in The Abode. There's a magician dressed as a giant rabbit, upside down rooms, shoes that bounce and more. This is definitely the book you're looking for!

C740: Children's Poetry & Story Book
SOLVED: Edited by Margaret E. Matignoni, The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature, 1955. 
C741: Children's book with menacing alligator or crocodile
SOLVED:Bertha Amoss, Old Hasdrubal and the Pirates, 1971.


C742: Christmas roses, crippled girl, newspaper story
This ran in a central Illinois newspaper (possibly either the Bloomington Pantagraph, the Danville Commercial-News, or the Champaign-Urbana Courier) at Christmas, either 1965 or '66. It took up one whole highly decorated (in color!) page. A young girl sits in a wheelchair outside a big department store. She sells roses on the street like the little match girl. Her name may be Rose too. I believe that she is left behind on the street when everyone goes home, and she gets to witness a great light and a miracle. I can't remember if she dies at the end, although I think that she does not.

C743: Christian Children's Fantasy blue cover 1980ish
SOLVED: John White, The Tower of Gerburah, 1978.

C744: Cereal maker leaves fortune hidden in mansion
SOLVED: John Bellairs, The mummy, the Will, and the Crypt, 1983. You're right, that's it!  Thanks a lot, you guys are awesome!

2012

C745: Childhood Dangers
Can you help me find a book from my youth? I would have read it in the early 80’s but it may be older than that.   It was a children’s book that through the use of animal characters  taught about the dangers of life.I remember a wolf and a bear, one of which ( can’t remember which did what ) got hurt sticking stuff into light sockets, the other did not look both ways when crossed the street.  I do vividly remember the critter that didn’t look both ways was laying in the street and the  ( somewhat creepy illustrations)  showed blood coming from it’s head.  I asked my mother and sister about this book and they confirmed it’s existence but neither could remember the name .    My mother seemed to think it also contained a story about an elephant that no one liked because she peed her pants.  My sister said that it wasn’t an elephant but a Hippo in a pink dress that did that  and that there was also a story in the book about a panda that got lost and couldn’t find her way home.  I’m pretty sure the panda part is correct but I suspect the elephant/hippo peeing her pants was a completely different book.  Any help with this would be great.  We have been reading with our oldest daughter for the summer reading program  at our local library and it has brought back a flood of partial memories of how much I enjoyed reading as a kid. 

Munro Leaf, Safety Can Be Fun.
Rather a long shot, as the characters are nondescript stick-people, referred to as ''Nit-Wits'', rather than animals. However, it is about childhood dangers and awful examples. It sounds as though you may be amalgamating more than one book, and if so, this might be one of them.

C746: Children run away to mountain
Looking for a children's book I read in the 40's about children who run away to a mountain and then can only get off by progressing from house to house.  Each house with a different goal such as eating oatmeal with raisins.  Maybe called The Enchanted Mountain or Magic Mountain.

Alexander Key, Escape to Witch Mountain. That sounds rather like this book. The two children are Toni and Tia. Toni has powers of telekinesis, and plays the harmonica to use them. And I think Tia can pick locks, or something of the sort, if that jogs any memories.
Eliza Orne Jewett, The Enchanted Mountain, 1939. It sounds a lot more like this book. When you go to the enchanted mountain you have to stay in certain houses to learn various lessons. In one place you learn to work without speaking, in another you have to learn how to rest, and in another you have to learn to like every kind of food. I would bet anything this was it.

C747: Cat in pipe
Looking for a book my mother read to me in mid fifties. I think it had a fire engine,ladder, a cat in pipe. The little boy was always too " too little " to do anything.  The firemen needed him to save a cat in a pipe because he was small enough to fit. The book was red and about 12 X 14 .

Pearl Daru Snyder, Too Little,
1947. Billy was tired of being called "Little Bill" and "too little"Hcouldn't go hiking with his brother or fishing with his Dad.  And how could he do big things in his town that was "too little" to be on the map? One Spring, Billy gets a chance to do something big when the floods come.  A dam is going to be built.  Everyone went to see the work on the dam.  Then a baby went missing and was discovered stuck in a small pipe in the dam.  Billy turns out to be the only person who can fit in the pipe and save the baby.  After calling him "too little" for the job, Billy convinces the town officials and firemen that he's the right person for the job and he saves the baby. The book is also informative about what dams are in what states.

C748: Candy fills apartment, sisters
Seeking a kid's book I read in the mid-70's about a black girl, I believe living in Harlem, who had an older sister. They didn't get along well.  Something happens to grant her wishes.  One involves so much candy that the whole house/apt. is filled.  Another wish is that her sister can't talk.

Striped Ice Cream. Long shot, about two sisters growing up in Harlem with their mother  I do remember about the apartment filling up with sweets, only it was ice cream, and it was in a bad dream. The younger sister keeps hoping to eat "striped ice cream", the neapolitan kind with chocolate, vanilla, strawberry for her birthday  she also argues with her sister a lot, don't remember if the older sister does stop talking for a while. In the end she finds her mother and big sister have made her a dress with ice-cream stripes. Hope this helps.

C749: Cats in a spaceship
Children's book with fantastic cutaway illustrations of cats in a spaceship.

C750: Crow prophet and friends warn animals
SOLVED: Linda Cline, The Miracle Season, 1977.

C751: Coming of age, NYC, published between 1972 and 1987
SOLVED: Judith Ross/H.B. Gilmour, Rich Kids, 1979.

C752: Contest diner pickle
SOLVED: Manes, Stephen, Chicken Trek. Hi, you posted an answer to my stumper. I checked it out and I'm sure that's it. Thanks!
C753: Classic fairy tale collection, 1980s
Big hardcover/childrensbook/AMAZING illustrations of the stories/ It has classic stories, for sure had "The Elves +Shoemaker+Hanzel+Grettle" Not sure but pretty sure it had :  Rumplestiltskin/Princess+the pea/ The emporors new clothes/jack+beanstalk. Maybe published in '80's. Good luck!

C754: Cave, broom that comes to life
I'm in search of a book from the late '60's or early '70's. It was a read-aloud done by a 4th grade teacher, in which a sister and brother find themselves with a very boring summer to look forward to. They discover a cave, try sweeping it out w/ a broom, which comes to life, making summer fun.

Ruth Chew, The Witch's Broom,
1970, approximate. I'm pretty sure this is a Ruth Chew book. The Witch's Broom seems like the most obvious title, but it might be one of her others. For some reason, I think The Secret Tree-House also features a cave, although I'm not sure if there's a broom in that one too.
Chew, Ruth, The Magic Cave/The Hidden Cave, 1973. Originally published as The Hidden Cave, reprinted in 1978 as The Magic Cave. A brother and sister find a magic cave in the park and the wizard Merlin asleep in a nearby tree, which makes for some fun summer adventures. There's no broom that I remember. Is it possible that you are remembering elements from different Ruth Chew books? The broom definitely comes to life in The Witch's Broom, and flies two girls to a cave where witches are meeting. But, your description sounds more like The Magic Cave.

C755: Christmas Book
Christmas Book.  I read it in grade school early 80s. "A Christmas Star" "A Christmas Tree Star"  definitely wasn't a picture book.  Basically there is a giant evergreen in town and the star for it goes missing.  Front cover had an evergreen on the front. Hard Cover main character might be a girl.

Carroll, Theodus, The Lost Christmas Star, 1979. "After River Junction's Christmas tree loses its star, two children determine to find the thief." The main characters are a boy and a girl, and the cover shows an outdoor scene, with the boy putting the star on the top of the tree.

C756: Christmas every day
 The book is about a girl who wishes it would be Christmas every day of the year because she loves Christmas so much. I believe it was published before 1990 because my wife remembers it as a child. Thanks in advance for your kind assistance.

Edited by Ann McGovern, Treasury of Christmas Stories, 1960. In this book, there is a story "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells.  A little girl asks her father for a story and he tells her about a girl who wanted Christmas every day.  This girl writes a letter to the Christmas fairy and asks for Christmas every day.  She gets her wish and finds out how horrible it ends up being having Christmas every day and the fairy changes it back to the way it was.  In the acknowledgements, it says that this story was reprinted from St. Nicholas Magazine.

C757: Collection of children's stories
Desperately searching for a book that was a collection of children's stories from around the world. Here's what I can remember:
- Probably published around 1980, wince I remember having them all my life
- Exactly the same style as Disney books from 1980 (8x10? Hardcover. Very colorful. Same drawing style.)
- It had a red-orange cover
- Contained stories including: = One about flying pigs? Or a pig that wanted to fly. = A shoemaker and cursed dancing shoes? I know it's similar to the elves and the shoemaker, but I distinctly remember the shoes becoming cursed and him being forced to dance = One story about an old woman who lives in a tea pot or kettle and knits a potholder for it for the winter = Story about a man who builds a tin rocketship and flies to the moon = It had a bunch of other stories in it too, ones I hadn't heard before in North America.
I hope you can help me! I have been searching for this book since I was a teenager!

C758: Children, mystery, plateau, father, helicopter 

I read a book in 1965 when I was 8.  It had a great impact on me.  I mostly only remember a boy, a girl and their grandfather hiking up a plateau. They become trapped, but helicopter drops supplies because grandfather
had arranged just in case. It might also involve a mysterious fossil. Please help.

I read this book!  I think I got it at a yard sale, and all I remember is that it was one of the Comet Book series. I looked in the book I still have from that series, and it may have been Strangers
in the Desert
by Alice Dyar Russell, Skycruiser, by Howard Brier, or Winged Mystery, by Alan Gregg. Or it could have been one that came after #28, Scarface, which is where my list
ends.
Sorry, wish it was more helpful!

C759: Coal camp girl on a train ride
Published in the 1910s or 1920s, probably (possibly the early thirties – but going on the story, I'd say it was the 1920s).Little girl growing up in a coal company town, probably in Pennsylvania, her father is a miner. She gets sick, and is sent to stay with a relative or seek better treatment. She ends up taking a long train ride by herself, and at first there's lots of description about the bleak company towns. The train ride is the central part of the story. It's around Christmas, there's lots of melted snow on the floor and it's running down the aisle mat in a small stream. She gets bored, pretends that the trickle of water on the mat is the creek in her town, and wants to build a little model of the town. She needs things to represent the big gob piles, dead tree trunks, and general awfulness, she's setting it up and describing it to the men (mostly older men) in that car. Slowly getting more and more of the men involved in her story and finding things to represent places in her town. One of them says “What if we do a pretend town where it's different/less horrible.” They start to construct it, it has greenery and trees and generally nice things. They're trying to make trees to set up, they figure out how to make the trunks but not the leaves. One wealthy fellow, who'd stayed out of things, brings folded dollar bills to use for the leaves. Not sure if it ends on the train or not, but this is what my dad remembers of it. I know this is a huge shot in the dark, but it would mean a lot to my dad just to know the title again. We're hoping it was published in St. Nicholas magazine, in which case he could easily find it if we had the title (he's a university librarian and has access to periodical archives).

Lois Lenski, Coal Camp Girl. Pretty sure.
Could a note be added that it's definitely NOT Coal Camp Girl (which I've read and shown my dad)?
We'll keep trying!


C760: Collection of stories and activities
Collection of stories and activities including one about Giles (?) children home sick making potato print clothes for dolls. Read in mid-80s.

edited by Rosemary Garland, My Bedtime Book of Two-Minute Stories, 1969. This is the same book as C766. The story about the children who make potato-print clothes for a potato is called "Mr. Gobbledegook."'

C761: Collection of short stories
Published around 1980, collection of short stories.Title was something like The Haunted House or The Whistling Chimney.The first story was about a house that had old bottles in the chimney that made creepy sounds when it was windy. Another story about girl getting prank calls about a hand.

C762: Children shipwrecked
The book I am looking for was probably written sometime between 1940-1970 (?) My copy was hardcover and yellow with blue writing on the binding Plot: 2 children, a boy and a girl vacation at a beach community for the summer.  They make friends with a local boy (name starts with "B") and all decide to build a raft together.  They always eat sandwiches for lunch, and there is some local guy who helps them with getting wood for the raft.  He tells them of the legend of a mysterious disappearing island nearby that has been seen only once or twice and is not charted.  The kids finish their raft and take it out on the ocean, a storm comes up, and they end up shipwrecked on what turns out to be the disappearing island.  They fish and eat seagull eggs for food.  They end up in trouble as the island starts to get smaller and smaller.  They find bars of gold hidden inside the cave on the island and end up getting rescued via helicopter (I think...) at the last possible second as the island is almost completely underwater.  These are the biggest details I can remember - thanks so much, it would be great if you or someone know the title of this book and how I could get a copy.

Mindlin, Helen Mather-Smith, Dangerous Island, 1956. This is one of the most popular searches!  Frank and Dorothy are vacationing at the beach with their mother.  They meet a local boy, Pug, and with the help of a young man, they build a raft.  One day the current in the Sound becomes too strong and pulls them out to sea.  They eventually land on a tiny, rocky island, which later begins to sink.  Of course, the children are rescued in the nick of time. There are gold bars hidden on the island.
Helen Mather-Smith Mindlin, Dangerous Island. Many people have fond memories of this book distributed by the Weekly Reader Book Club of the late 50s - early 60'\''s.    (The adult character was nicknamed the Bay Prince.)
We have a copy of Dangerous Island on the shelf at Loganberry, let us know if you are interested!

C763: Cockatiel childrens adventure
Read this as a child would give ANYThing to find the book(s) for my grandchildren!  I think it was written in the 1930'\''s and is probably out of print.  I think the author was British, but not positive on that.  As I recall 2-3 kids, siblings perhaps, and they had a cocatiel as a pet - they would get stranded in wild places and have to make their way with a "tin" of food and just what they had in their "knapsacks".  My memory is so fogy on all of this but I would LOVE to find even ONE of those books if there are any to be had.


Enid Blyton, The Adventure series, 1940s, approximate. I believe you may be thinking of the series of "Adventure" books by Enid Blyton - The Island of Adventure, The Circus of Adventure, The Sea of Adventure etc. They concern 4 children called Jack, Dinah, Philip and Lucy-Ann and their cockateil, whose name I can't remember.

SOLVED: Enid Blyton, Island of Adventure. How can I ever thank you enough? I have recaptured my youth from the memories of the one book I read as a youngster and now I will be able to make sure my granddaughters will be able to enjoy these wonderful books.  I have been trying to remember these books for 20 years.  Thank you THANK YOU!

C764: Christmas bear cinnamon candy heart
SOLVED: The Gingerbears First Christmas

C765: Children get lost in London- adverts come to life
I remember it being a beautifully illustrated book about two children (possibly a boy and girl) who go to London for the day but get lost. The characters in the adverts on the bus come to life and help them find their way home. The adverts were true to the time- not sure on age of book 1950s/1960s??

C766: Cat Alphabet (ABC) Book
Each letter has a cartoon cat with a unique name (each letter of the alphabet), doing a task that starts with that letter.  The third page is: "Cats like Cathleen like to keep themselves clean," with a cat in a bathtub. think it would have been published in the mid-1980s to early 1990s.

Lynley Dodd, The Minister's Cat ABC,
1994. Possibly The Minister's Cat ABC? The book is based on a popular English alphabet game in which players must come up with adjectives to describe the titular cat (in alphabetical order, of course).

C767: Collection of stories
SOLVED: Edited by Rosemary Garland, My Bedtime Book of Two-Minute Stories, 1969.

C768: Children's, young adult mystery, c. 1965-1977
I read this in 1977-81. Published? 1965-1977. I'm looking for a childrens, young adult ( maybe ) mystery book that was hardcover, maybe red with black & white DETAILED illustrations of mystery and crime scenes. I believe it had 3 or 4 stories in the book. One side of the pg was the story and description of what to "find" in the drawing on nxt pg.

C769: Cartoon book about elephant and mouse who live together in the city
When I was little (mid 1980s) I remember reading a hardcover cartoon book about an elephant and a mouse who lived in the city together. The elephant worked as a waiter and the mouse as a driving instructor (or vice versa). Any ideas? It was a great cartoon comic book!!

C770: Clumsy animal spills grapes on a leopard that is mistaken for a rug
This is a large board book from possibly as early as 1965 to 1975.  There is also a lion whose hair is mistaken for spaghetti and a mop. There is also an elephant I think.  The illustrations are photographs of stuffed animals.  The grapes are marbles and the lion's hair is yarn or string.

C771: Cellophane Lion
I'm looking for the title of a book I read around 1970. A boy found (or was given) a cellophane pouch with a seed or bean in it. When planted it grew a lion. The two of them went on to have a grand adventure. That's all I remember.

C772: Children, England, Guy Fawkes night
The book I am looking would have been around in 1965. Takes place in England,  part of it was about children going on an outing to a regatta and I remember Guy Fawkes night or Bon fire night featured. I think the children were given about a schilling to spend and divide up.

E. Nesbit, The Story of the Treasure Seekers, 1899. A possibility, perhaps? They definitely find a coin, although it was a half-crown, and there is definitely a portion regarding Guy Fawkes night.
C773: Class field trip
Read in class, 4th grade, 1978ish?  A school class goes on a field trip with their teacher - elderly, grey hair in a bun but quite fit. A disaster happens - Earthquake or mudslide? - They get trapped.  I remember a portly kid eating bad sausages from a wrecked butcher shop.  Help - driving me nuts!

Ivan Southall, Hills End,
1970, approximate. This is definitely the book you're looking for!  Five or six kids are trapped by a mudslide in a deserted town. The boy who eats the sausages doesn't have a sense of smell, so he can't tell that the meat has gone bad.

C774: Collection of Children's Stories
Green cloth covered book about 8x11 possibly in the 1950s and possibly by whitman publishing. Contains a collection of childrens stories, The Old Woman and Her Pig, Yonie Wondernose, The Velveteen Rabbit, and more It had black and white illustrations,and I dont remember pictures or lettering on the cover.

Anne Neigoff, Parade of Stories, 1974. This contains both stories, although possibly it's too late for your book.

C775: "Calpi" the horse
I am looking for a children's book, published 1965 or (most likely) before, about a horse named "Calpi," or some derivation thereof. He remembers it as a green or blue book, with "Calpi" in calligraphy arcing across the top. The closest I can find is "Calico, the Wonder Horse."

Anita Feagles, Casey the Utterly Impossible Horse, 1960. Casey is a talking horse that wears striped pajamas, a hat and sunglasses. The cover is green and "Casey" is written in script at the top. It may or may not be the book you are looking for, as there wasn't much of a description to go on.
Ursula Moray Williams, Kelpie the Gipsies' Pony, 1946, reprint. Found this one which looks like a good possibility.  Description: A homeless boy living with gypsies tames a wild pony and invents various schemes to be near his pet.  It's a hardback book with a green cover. 

C776: Coote, Children's picture book
 Date: 1950's. Mother Coote (a Coote bird) dressed with an apron & head scarf, duster under her wing & has children that get into mischief

Isobel St. Vincent, Helen Haywood (illus), Clarrie Coot, 1947. Published by Hutchinson's Books for Young People, London. Illustrated with five color plates and black & white drawing throughout the book. From an online listing: "A charming story of life on a river bank, featuring Clarrie Coot the kind hearted little duck, who, no matter how hard she tried she could never be tidy." Illustration on first page shows Clarrie wearing old-fashioned shoes, an apron, and a scarf tied around her head, holding a broom with her wings and sweeping. One color picture shows Clarrie (wearing a red scarf w/ white polka dots tied around her head and what appears to be a pearl necklace) peeping in through a window. Inside, gathered around a small table, are what appears to be a muskrat in a top hat and black coat w/ fur trim, a badger wearing a red neckerchief, and a rat in red pants.

C777: Children's dreams
SOLVED: Langton, Jane, Diamond in the Window.

C778: Contrived environment, two teenagers, secret messages hidden in letters, future, space travel
SOLVED: Piers Anthony, Race Against Time.

C779: Children's book possibly late 50s
We have some lines from a book Mom remembers reading could you help me find it? My ball is big and red and round. My little car is blue. My train goes choo choo choo. My chairs for sitting down. My telephones for calling up. My ponys for my clown. I would appreciate any help! Thanks.

Lillian B. Garfield, See My Toys, 1947.


C780: Children's fairy/folk tale anthology with MANGOES
Large hardcover children's book, beautiful full page colour illustrations. Includes original version of Beauty & the Beast (ship merchant father vows to bring back a rose for his youngest daughter), and Indian??folk tale of mango seller  ("Mangoes, fresh mangoes! Who'll buy my lovely fresh mangoes?"). 


C781: Clown adventures
Book published in 1940s? very early 1950s? Clown who has many adventures, including being rolled up in a carpet. Artistically illustrated with flowing lines.


C782: Children's story / poem collection
This children's book has stories and maybe poems. The cover was red cloth with an illus. panel (I think). It was a larger-sized book. There was a story about Neverland (not Peter Pan) and another about dolls having a party at night (and being sticky the next day). Illus. from 20s? 30s? 40s? Pixies.

The story about dolls being sticky the next day sounds like a chapter from Raggedy Ann Stories, by Johnny Gruelle (Raggedy Ann Learns a Lesson).  But I don't know what other collection it's in.


C783: Cat, tree, birthday cake
This was my favorite children's book around the mid-90's (I was born in 1990 if that helps). It was about a cat who lived in a tree whose mother was sick and died. The cat broke into a house and ate birthday cake and got sick. A little boy helped him. The cover was of a tree in black and white.

Kellogg, Steven, The Orchard Cat, 1972. This is The Orchard Cat, without a doubt. The plot is just as you remember! "You get what you takes and you take what you gets. That was Mama Cat's motto, and her last words to her son before dying of mumps, warts, chicken pox, gout, and several other ailments brought on by an evil life. But Mama had never gotten what she wanted most in life. She'd never been queen. It was up to Cat to take up where she'd left off. So packing up Mama's portrait and her battle plan, Cat set out to conquer the world. But no one wanted a king, and it took a series of disasters (including a near-fatal encounter with a large chocolate cake) before Cat finally learned that being king isn't half as fun as being friends. Steven Kellogg has provided his whimsical morality tale with a delightful assortment of characters, both animal and human. And every young reader will want to join in the glorious overstuffed finale - the animals' picnic in honor of spring, and of Cat's reformation."


C784: Cape Cod, girl, aunt, dentures
Girl who summers in Cape Cod with family in the summer was a youth book. I read this is the early '80 but it was probably from the '50s or '60's and I believe it was a series. Her aunt looks her dentures and the girl finds them in an apron pocket.

Catherine Woolley, Ginny and the Mystery Doll, 1960.


C785:  Computer "Teacher" short story
A short story where children used a computer as a Teacher (capitalized), as a substitute for reading, or somehow reading was augmented or controlled. Perhaps a child was preparing for a test? Something fundamental had changed about the nature of teaching. Maybe an elementary anthology book? Updated: I found the short story that I was thinking of - Isaac Asimov's The Fun They Had. A brother and sister find an actual book - physical paper and all - and marvel at the novelty of words that don't automatically move across a screen. http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/funtheyhad.html I'd still be interested in knowing what elementary-school anthology contained it, because there were many stories in that book that influenced me as a child.

Isaac Asimov, The Fun They Had, 1951. There's an article about this on Wikipedia that lists some of the books it has been reprinted in. "It first appeared in a children's newspaper in 1951 and was reprinted in the February 1954 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the collections Earth Is Room Enough (1957), 50 Short Science Fiction Tales (1960), and The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973). It has been modified in a Finnish English book called KEY English 8-9... It is the most anthologised of all Asimov's stories and has appeared in many publications outside of the science fiction genre."
You can see a list of sf/f anthologies containing this story, and also see the other contents of each such anthology (up through 1984), via the Homevile sf anthologies site http://www.philsp.com/homeville/isfac/0start.htm For information on anthologies since 1984, use http://www.locusmag.com/index/
Incidentally, the requestor might also enjoy another Asimov story, "The Feeling of Power," which has a premise somewhat comparable to "The Fun They Had" but involving the future of mathematics rather than of reading.
Isaac Asimov, The Fun They Had, 1951. The ISFDB can perhaps help you figure out where you read the story: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?58943 lists lots of anthologies that it's appeared in, including a few that sound plausible as elementary-school readers.
Another anthology containing "The Fun They Had" that's not listed on the page someone else posted is More Favorite Stories Old And New edited by Sidonie Matsner Gruenberg,  copyright 1960.  It has a lot of stories for elementary children and sounds like a good possibility for the one she remembers.
Quite likely the textbook is the 1968 Joys and Journeys, eds. Marjorie Seddon Johnson,  Roy Kress, John D. McNeil, and Pose Lamb. The glamorous cover, with a decorated elephant, is by Caldecott Medalist Ed Young. Other stories in the textbook include one from 1948 about a four-year-old named Hepzibah Gray in 17th-century Massachusetts who saves her mother from a home invasion, Rococo Skates by Marjorie Fischer (1936) Spelling Bee Blues by Laurene Chinn, 1940s (about a Chinese-Filipino girl, Donna, who has mixed feelings about doing well in an American school's spelling bee), Mystery Guest at Left End by Beman Lord, 1964, (about a preteen girl who's coaxed to play - in disguise - on a boy's touch football team), Beneath the Saddle by Russell Gordon Carter (1936, American Revolution spy story), The Silver Rattle by Vrinda Kumble (exciting theft story - in India?), The Horse that Played the Outfield, by William Heuman, The Punk (1947) by the prolific Charles I. Coombs, It's a Tough Life by William D. Hayes (about a preteen who helps pay the family food bill and hires younger kids and gets in trouble), a chapter from Ruth Sawyer's Roller Skates, Elephant Ears by Ruth Holberg, about a Finnish boy and a new pastry, a Papuan story, Storm on the Lake by 2 authors - both named  Neelands, the poem The Song of Lafitte by Kathryn Hitte (about the pirate Jean Lafitte) and First Flight (about Daedalus and Icarus) retold by Jean Lang (in 1914).   You can read that here - it's wonderful:
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/24813/

C786: Classroom (elementary) took place in broom/janitors closet
SOLVED: Lois Baker Muehl, Worst Room In The School, 1961.

C787: City surrounded by monsters
Girl is told that the city is surrounded by monsters, but boy turns up one day and she realises they lied. They leave so she can help him save someone, and they travel with a caravan train through the wilderness. Read in about 1996, not as insipid as it sounds!

C788: Coming of age story in working class town
A class book studied in the mid 80's in the UK. It was set in a working class town and followed a group of children. One of them is abused, maybe murdered. Very moving coming of age book. I'd love to find it again. I feel the title was something like 'where we lived' but no joy in searching.

Lowry, Lois, Autumn Street.
Could it be Autumn Street? Written by Lois Lowry in 1980, it follows a couple of friends during WWII, with one of them being killed. It had been a required read in our middle school . I still remember being upset over Charlie's death. Hope this proves to be of some help.

C789: Carnival swing ride on cover
I remember very little about this book but think it's a young adult/older kid sci-fi book.  I think it had a picture of a carnival swing ride on the cover.  I think the main character was a teenage girl with a difficult personality.  Something about the carnival grounds was special or magical.


Louise Moeri, The Girl Who Lived on the Ferris Wheel, 1975, approximate. Could you be thinking of this book instead?  Til has   has a difficult home life, with divorced parents and a mother who has real mental health issues and who gets increasingly more troubled. Til keeps hoping things will get better, and the ferris wheel somehow connects her with her father. It's a powerful book.

C790: Catalog with fantastical inventions
1980's childrens book that was like a catalog with fantastical inventions that kids would want, like a baseball bat with bat wings or a doorway to walk though to get clean rather than taking a bath. I think it was paperback with black and white drawings.


Bridwell, Norman, The Witch's Catalog. I thought I had sent this answer in years ago in response to another person's stumper of the same book, but I couldn't find it in your Solved Mysteries pages. It is THE WITCH'S CATALOG by Norman Bridwell. This website has posted the cover and some of the interior pages.
http://the-haunted-closet.blogspot.com/2009/02/witchs-catalog-norman-bridwell-1976.html
Look here for Witch's Catalog:  http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-w.html

C791: Chicago boy witnesses murder; may be named Joshua
Young boy growing up in a (Chicago, I believe) ghetto.  He goes through a rough winter living on the streets.  I want to say he witness a murder or was involved in a murder.  I also remember he had a younger sibling.  I read this book in 84-85, but I believe the book was published in the 60's.  I read it in my junior high library and it had a back cover that was orange and a front (sticker cover over the orange cover) was white with a kid with what I believe was a winter scene.  I want to say the main character was Joshua or a name that started with a J.  I always thought the title was Joshua Saved or something like that.  The boy goes through a life changing experience which I believe he explored religion and became a Christian.


Wilkerson, David, The Cross and the Switchblade, 1972. Although I doubt this is the book you are looking for, there are some similarities to this story, which is also biographical.
If this was a fairly short book--along the lines of the hi/lo books --it might have been by Scott Corbett.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the title.  Looking online has brought up a few possibilities though--Cop's Kid or Run for the Money being the two most likely. If it's not either of those, it may be another book by Little Brown in the same series.

C792: Christmas Book
Looking for a Christmas book of stories and poems. I grew up in the 80's so it was published around or before then.  It included "The Little Match Girl" and " The Cookie Jar Elf". It was soft cover, had a silvery tree w/ ornaments, red soft focus background, magazine size but thicker w/ illustrations.

The only book I can find that includes The Cookie Jar Elf is The Happy Christmas Story Book by Alison Sage. Unfortunately, it looks like this may not include The Little Match Girl, so it may not be the right book. It was originally published in 1961 and was republished in 1986 as The Happy Christmas Book. The original cover had Santa Claus on it, but I can’t find a copy of the newer cover, so I don’t know if it was the same.

C793: Cardboard box castle or house
Possibly a yellow cover, this was a story book about kids building a cardboard house or castle. Most important detail: there were illustrated instructions for building your own cardboard castle (or house) after the story. I worked in a library in 1991-92 when I found it, book seemed older-60's-70's?

This sounds like Once There Was a Knight by Judy Hindley. 
C794: Clock tower, boy, dragon, king
I am looking for a book from the 60s/early 70s about a clock tower, a boy, a dragon, and a king.  I can't remember the title or anything about the book other than the illustration was done with wave-like imagery (ie, the fire from the dragon was drawn as styalized, scrolling, red and orange waves).

C795: Children's illustrated, war, dogfights, airplanes, blimps, cannons, parachutes
SOLVED: William Pene du Bois, The Forbidden Forest, 1978.

C796: Children trapped in desert ghost town try to return to own time
Two children are out in the desert. They visit a ghost town and find that they have traveled back in time. While they try to figure out how to get back, they must find a way to support themselves and fit in. For example, initially their clothing makes the townspeople think they are witches.

C797: Clues, dollhouse, miniature books
I am looking for a book that I read in the late 80s or early 90s. It was a book we read in school, together as a class. I'm pretty sure it was grade 6, definitely no later than that. I'm very fuzzy on the exact details, but it was a mystery. 3 (or maybe 2) kids visit or go to live with their grandmother (or some other relative). They may have been orphans, but that is not certain. They follow some clues that they find - I think the point was to find a treasure, but I am really not sure about that. The wallpaper is a clue, I think, or at least there was something important about it. There are miniature books in a dollhouse. The books (or one of them) turn out to be very valuable (I think), and I think the books were made by the kids' mother or father. The one part I remember very clearly is that one of the clues was about strange plant/flower names that sounded like other things. Like lion's mane or sheep's wool (I have no idea if these were in the book or are even real plant names, just giving an example of the type of puzzle it was). I remember all of us sitting in class with field guide type books looking up the plant names to try and solve the puzzle. Also I vaguely remember one part where one of the children wakes up in the night and discovers an important clue. It is not a supernatural book (no ghosts or such). I grew up in Canada, so there is some chance that it was written by a Canadian author, but it could have just as easily been American or British.


Possible solution, Spiderweb For Two by Elizabeth Enright. I haven't read it since I was about 12 (30 years ago) so my recollection might be a little fuzzy but something about the general idea sounded familiar. I didn't remember anything about plants which the poster was definite about so I looked it up and a reviewer mentioned a chapter where Oliver encounters a woman who teaches him about plants and mentions pokeweed.
Stumbled upon your website tonight in search of the title of a book I used to have when I was younger.  While scrolling through some of the stumpers people have posted, I noticed one that sounded familiar.  Could C797 be Meg: Mystery in Williamsburg?
I agree with the poster who suggested Spiderweb for Two, although there is no dollhouse, no miniature books--possibly the original poster is thinking of something else for that part.  The parts about the plants, and waking up in the night, would match Spiderweb for Two. The wallpaper, I think, would be from The Four Story Mistake, the second book in the series (Spiderweb for Two is sometimes called the fourth in the Melendy Quartet), where they find a secret room in the house they have moved into, and locate the door by feeling the lines under the old wallpaper (actually it's stories and pictures pasted up from old children's papers).

C798: Cathy, robin family
One of my favorite childhood books (from the 1950s) was a charming story about a little girl named Cathy who watches a family of robins in the yard.  She wears a red dress and at one point in the story hop-hops across the soft green grass after one of the birds.  I think she and her mother also watch the nest from the window of their house.  This may be a Little Golden Book, or a publication in a similar format.


This is probably a book that was illustrated by Eloise Wilkin. She did quite a few Little Golden Books that were about birds or nature with adorable children in the illustrations.
The answer to Stumper C798 about Cathy and the Robins is The Robin Family by Miss Frances (A Ding Dong School Book).  The little girl in the book is named Kathy and the pictures are as described.  Here's a link with several pictures...

C799: Creatures with inanimate bodies
Illustrations seem much like Maurice Sendak. Coloured but not brightly/boldly coloured. Maybe 1950's. Creatures whose bodies are inanimate objects (ex: a bird with body of a pencil, clock flying in the sky, etc) Hardcover. Thank you!


The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds by Arnold Lobel (1971)   Both of the things you describe are in this book.  I'm sure this must be in Solved Mysteries, as well.


C800: Children flood the bathroom and sail around in an old clawfoot bathtub
This is a picture book I remember from when I was a child in the 70s. There was a kid or group of kids and there was a flood in the bathroom and they got in an old bathtub and went off and had an adventure. Not much to go on but I hope you can find it! Neither my parents nor sister can remember!


Mr. Pudgins by Ruth Christoffer Carlsen, maybe? See Solved Mysteries.

That almost certainly has to be Mr. Pudgins, by Ruth Carlsen.  A wonderful and funny book!
Mr Pudgins sounds like a great book but I am certain that the book I am thinking of is a picture book and not a chapter book.

C801: Creepy picture book
Probably published in the late 80s or, more likely, the early 90s. Creepy picture book. I think it as about a young boy who dreamed about sneaking out into the woods. He met weird creatures and the pictures were dark as most of the book took place at night.

C801 might be "The Magic Wood" by Henry Treece, illustrated by Barry Moser, c. 1992. It has the young boy tempted into the woods, the scary creatures, and the dark illustrations. ``The wood is full of shining eyes,/The wood is full of creeping feet,/The wood is full of tiny cries:/You must not go to the wood at night.''

C802: Children, orchard, swallows
What I remember from the book is that it seemed to be written between perhaps the 1950's-1970's.  It had something to do with two children, I think brother and sister, who perhaps lived on a farm of some sort, or who had an orchard. Something to do with Swallows or Swallowtail birds, Autumn, (perhaps the changing of the seasons), chestnut burrs on the ground, crab apples, I think Halloween costumes. It was a short story and an illustration book. Swallows are something that stand out in my mind specifically.  Hopefully you can help me find this and that my recollections aren't too vague!! thank you very much. 

This couldn't be Amazons and Swallows could it? It's longer than you remember, but was illustrated and a good bit of it takes place outside.

C803: Celtic Ghost Stories
Early-mid 80's, short series of illustrated Celtic Ghost stories. +/- 20 pages. The books were thin, hard black cover w/centered title and picture, 1" glossy border. Topics included Ghost Piper, Skeleton Behind The Wall, Macbeth, maybe Mary Queen  of Scots.

C804: Creatures, workshop, egg hatches
There is a book from my childhood that i remember fondly, but only bits and pieces. There is a fair chance it was a gift from my Welsh god mother, so it might not be limited to american children books. Below is what I think I remember about the book I'd like help identifying:

I read the book (had it read to me) when i was a child, so it must have been printed before 1995.It was a black and white illustrated book, with text. The hard back cover was all off-white, I think it was embossed with a large egg on the front. The story starts with the main character (i think its a non-human creature) in his workshop, i think he wore an leather apron. At some point a giant egg (about the size of the character) is drooped/placed in his workshop. He takes care of it, eventually hatching into a large birdlike thing, which takes him far away, i think he rides it. I think eventually he is taken back home, and the birdlike creature visits him. That's all i remember. I'd love any help you and your community can provide, Thank you.

C805: Creepy illustrations of a boy with matches
SOLVEDFrom Bad to Worse

C806: Christmas Stories with Bible theme
I am looking for a small Christmas book collection of stories, our family has been reading it since the early 1990's. There are no illistrations in the book and is geared towards the family. Our copy was paperback. I don't know the name of the book but some of the stories in the book include:

C807: Charlie or Charles at boarding school
I realize this is extremely far fetched... But all I can remember, I read it back in the 70s. There was a boy named Charlie or Charles and the setting was at some type of boarding school. I'm guessing it's going to be some type of realistic fiction.

C808: Christmas book with map of little girl's house on flyleaves
I have a memory of a Christmas book.  I was in elementary school when I read this book, so that puts it in the mid- to late- 1960's.  It was about a young girl and something about Santa.  What I remember most is on the front and back flyleaves, there was a "map" of the house this little girl lived in.  It seems she had to search for something.  It was a large hardcover book.







D5: Detective Book Club
I have been looking since the mid-80's for a book I read that I read in the 1970's (I think).  It was a mystery story bound in one of the Detective Book Club books with 3 titles in the book.  It dealt with a family on vacation in Canada.  They had noticed a car passing them and latter when they stopped for dinner they noticed the same car in the parking lot.  After dinner the daughter (who reads Bartlett's Quotations, her favorite book) got into the backseat of "a" car and fell asleep.  She ended up in the "other car" which was being driven by thieves and ended up being a hostage.  There were 3 bad guys, one about her age.  The younger one eventually helps her escape.  Bartlett's Quotations plays an important part in locating her and the bad guys. Story is told from her viewpoint and that of her parents and the police trying to find her. 
D6: Dress-up baby brother

Solved: James the Jaguar 
D7: Doll & bus

I am looking for the name of a book I read as a young girl in the late 50's. The only thing I can remember of the book was that of a little girl riding a bus with her doll. The child  was going to a relative's home in the country for an extended period of time. I dearly loved this book & would appreciate if anyone can remember the name of this book. I think it may have been a series.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher is about a little girl who goes to visit her relatives in the country for an extended period. I don't  remember if she has a doll or if she goes by bus, though.
About the girl on the bus, D-7, I just purchased a book like this one. It is about a girl named Gail who stays with her uncle in the country.  She arrives on a bus to Hopkins Corners with her bear (not a doll) named Roo. The book tells the story of the old farmhouse from its beginnings to the present. It is written and illustrated by one of my favorite authors--Kate Seredy.
D7 might be Peachtree Island, by Mildred Lawrence.  Cissie travels by train and then boat, not bus; her doll, Monica, is notable because she's a bride doll that looks just like Cissie. Cissie has shuttled from relative to relative; on Peachtree Island, she's going to live with Uncle Eben.  Uncle Eben turns out to be a very nice uncle, and red-haired and forgetful to boot, just like Cissie; so she tries to prove that she's as much help with the peach orchard as a boy would be, so Uncle Eben will keep her.
D7 Doll and bus -- I just came across an illustration for the book Penny written and illustrated by Margaret Torrey, published Howell, Soskin, 1944, 126 pages. The book is about little Penny, who travels with her doll Rosmyrelda to visit her aunt Penelope in the country. Her aunt has a poodle called Pouf. The illustration is quite striking, and shows a blonde little girl with a wide-brimmed hat, plaid dress, white gloves, lacey petticoat, high white stockings and button boots, her hands clasped together. She is sitting on the bench of a train? with an umbrella leaning beside her and her painted wooden doll, who wears a checked dress and a little pillbox hat. If this might be the client's book, I can scan and email the illustration if that would help.
Cora Cheney, The Doll of Lilac Valley, 2003, reprint.  Could be The Doll of Lilac Valley.  The main character, Laurie, is on her way to spend the summer with an older couple as a fresh air child.  The couple is not related to her, though. She takes her favorite doll, Kathleen, on the bus with her, but  loses her when the bus makes a rest stop.
I don't think you're looking for Understood Betsy (Dorothy Canfield).  Elizabeth Ann rides to Vermont on a train, but does not have a doll.  Great Aunt Abigail has a doll, though, a beautiful old doll, Deborah, in a trunk.  Betsy plays with her and tells her friend how much she likes dolls with brown, not yellow, hair.



D8: Deborah Endicott
Solved: Debbie of the Green Gate
D12: Daydreaming

Here's a stumper:  a man read a book in the 50's sometime about a little boy who spends his time in school and at home daydreaming...about being an astronaut or a fireman or something else.  Each chapter is a different adventure.  Sounds to me like a Disney short, but I can't remember...thanks

This is only a very wild guess but the reader could be thinking about the Bobby Brewster series of books which were around in the fifties and sixties.
You know, it doesn't ring any bells with me or the patron who asked for it, but he was glad to get the
info.  I really appreciate your getting back to me. thanks so much.  p.s. I really enjoy the site and have actually sent in some suggested titles.
Sounds a little bit like Magic Michael written and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin, Macmillan, 1944, about a little boy who's always pretending. "All small boys love to pretend they are 'something or other,' much to the dismay of their sisters and parents! Michael's sister tells how he was a Cow, then a Stork, a Kangaroo, a Rock and 'hard things that you could never tell,' like Electricity, a Mop or a 'deep dark Well.' It seemed there was no stopping Michael's boundless imagination, until one day his father brought home a surprise ... " Nothing much about him being a fireman or anything though, and no idea if it was a chapter book.
A bit closer, but perhaps too late - 26 Ways to be Somebody Else, by Devorah Boxer, published Pantheon 1960, 64 pages, side-sewn "Magically, one small boy changes himself into 26 different personalities, from Acrobat to Zoo-keeper. Ages 4-8." (Horn Book Oct/60 p.343 pub ad)
another possible is The Expeditions of Willis Partridge, written and illustrated by Harvey Weiss, published New York, Abelard 1961, 42 pages. "A small boy's daydreams make up this attractive and very entertaining picture book. When Willis is just being Willis, but poised for a take-off into his secret world, the pictures are in red, black, and white; but when Willis is climbing mountains, reviewing troops, being a master spy, walking tightropes, slaying a lion and leading an orchestra the pictures are in brilliant colors." (HB Feb/61 p.45) May be too short, though.
D12 daydreaming: here's another - Under Christopher's Hat, by Dorothy M. Callahan and Carole M. Byard, published Scribner 1972. "A small boy imagines himself in a lot of different jobs - fireman, hunter, milkman - during the course of a busy day. Ages 3-6." (HB Apr/72 p.104 pub ad)
There were a series of cartoons at about the right time of a young boy who day-dreamed at home and in school. He was an astronaut one time and flew around in a space ship, then another time he was a fireman, and in in another he was a big game hunter in the jungle. Not sure if this adds anything to help though.


D13: Doll hand-me-down
Solved: Memoirs of a London Doll

D15: Donuts in Cakeville
Solved: Tea Cake from Cakeville 
D16: Dutch Shoes

What a great site!  I'm looking for a Little Golden Book that I loved as a little girl in the early 70's.  I think it was about a girl and her father, who I believe made wooden Dutch shoes??  And there may have been something about shoes from different countries.  I'm not sure, but I would love to get this book again.  Thanks!

Are you sure it's shoes from different countries and not dolls?  Check out the memories about The Surprise Doll on the Morrell Gipson page.
Believe it or not, there's more than one book about Dutch shoes. Couldn't find any LGBs, but these seem to be similar formats at least: Maben Wooden Shoes London and New York: Frederick Warne, 1943, 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall "Sweet little book with full page color illustrations. A "Jimmy Linnet" book. Paper covered boards with color illustration on front." Hardwick, Alice, Little Wooden Shoes  pictures by Francis Brundage, Akron, Saalfield 1917, 14 pages, 12 x 7 1/2", 4 full color illustrations & many 2 toned tinted ills. Color litho wrappers, stapled. "American girl goes to Holland & gets to wear wooden shoes." Brann, Esther, Nanette of the Wooden Shoes NY Macmillan 1929, seven full page illus, three in full color. "Nanette wore the loudest pair of sobots (wooden shoes) in all of Brittany!"
D16 dutch shoes: if it were a boy instead of a girl, it could be Dirk's Wooden Shoes, by Ilona Fennema, illustrated by Georgette Apol, published Harcourt 1970 "Joyous colorful pictures illustrate this delightful story of a small Dutch boy whose father carves wooden shoes - including a 'magical pair.' Ages 5-9." (HB Apr/70 p.200 pub ad)


D18: Doll comes alive
Solved: Dollie Darlings 
D19: Doll solves mystery

This book is about a brother and sister who visit an old perhaps abandoned house and find an old doll. I remember they hide in the window seat from something and the old doll ends up hiding a mystery, perhaps in her china head, a mystery of where gold coins were hidden , perhaps during the war between the states. That is all I can remember, but it was one of my favorite books.

Disney made a movie with the same story line, if that helps, but I don't recall the name of it.  Perhaps it was The Watcher in the Woods?  Actually, upon reading some of the Solved Mysteries on this Web site, I think the Disney movie I was referring to is called The Child of Glass.
Sorry but this does not sound familiar. I think the title had the word house or mansion in it. I remember another bit. The girl or girls in the story were in a wedding and got to wear organdy dresses and were quite excited. Organdy has always held a facination for me because of that story.
I don't remember the tiles but both D19 and M20 sound familiar to me.  I wonder if these could be either Helen Fuller Orton or Mary C. Jane mysteries. I read as many of these as I could find in the 60's and most of them had plots along these lines.
D19--I don't remember the title (although the word "Freedom" may have been in it), but I think the author was Rebecca Caudill.
Some details remind me strongly of The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.  But that was just a girl.
#D19  The book on which Disney's The Child of Glass is based is The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck.  It *could* be it.  It involves a young boy and girl, visiting, a doll, and recovering something lost in the Civil War era.  It is absolutely NOT Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Velvet Room.  I've read that several times and there's nothing about a doll or the Civil War.
D19- This book sounded an awful lot like the Mystery in the Doll Hospital by Elizabeth Honess (what is it about the name Elizabeth!!).  There are twins in the story and the doll that is being restored has sapphire eyes.  The doll belongs to a old neighbor whose father was a ship's captain and he gave the doll to a man on his ship for safekeeping.  Unfortunately, the man was a jewel thief and hid gems in the doll.  He was put in jail without recovering the jewels, died, and told someone else the story.  That man got out of jail and tried to recover the gems. I had been looking for the book for years and found it in a library book clearing.  It was like Christmas!!
#D19--Doll Solves Mystery:  Probably not the right one, but I'd like to share the summary from the back of a book I just picked up:  "Melissa must stay in bed for four months until her broken hip heals.  Time moves
unbearably slowly until Mother brings home a tiny doll family.  From the very first day, Melissa and the dolls understand each other.  Then young Cousin Valerie visits from her family's plantation, nearly ruined during the
recent Civil War.  She tells about a chest of gold that has disappeared from its hiding place.  Without the gold her family home will be lost.  It is up to the dolls to find a clue to the hidden gold--and somehow make Melissa
hear their message."  Summary to "Midnight in the Dollhouse," by Marjorie Filley Stover, published by Scholastic Books in 1990.  By the way, there is also a book by Cora Cheney called "Plantation Doll," published in 1955.
Catherine Woolley.  This is a long shot, but could you be conflating more than one book?  In Ginnie and the Mystery Doll by Catherine Woolley, I think the doll wore a lavender organdy dress.  There's no brother, but Ginnie's friend Peter is in a number of the books and perhaps he's in this one.  And inGinnie and the Wedding Bells, she got to be in a wedding, though her dress was velvet.  There's also a Ginnie and the Mystery House.
online search - I had no idea there were so many books like this: Evatt, Harriet, Secret of the Old Coach Inn b&w illustrations by David Stone, Bobbs-Merrill 1959 "A mystery evolves in an old historical coach inn for Serena and Philip in a town called Seldom Seen in the early 1900s. A doll in the attic has a strange message that begins the adventure!" Cheney, Cora, Plantation Doll illustrated by Jo Polseno, New York, Henry Holt 1955, 8x5.5" 136 pages, red cloth boards; endpapers with illustration of Mamselle. "Aunt Marge is coming to Rose Hill Plantation to visit Mrs. Jefferson and Lucinda. Maybe she can shed more light on the mystery of the disappearance of Mamselle, the doll, which happened years before." This one is a fantasy, though, which may rule it out: Elaine Horseman, The Hubbles' Treasure Hunt Norton 1965, 175 pages, illustrated by John Sergeant.  "Sequel to Hubble's Bubble. When five children find a cryptic message referring to hidden treasure inside an old doll, they use an ancient volume of spells to travel back in time and solve the mystery."
So kind of you to help me with my stumper. Sad to say, none sound familiar.  Now I am almost certain the words "Secret" or "mystery" as well as "Doll" were in the title. I will have to do a search on some of the authors mentioned.  I still have hope!
Another mystery doll - Missing Melinda by Jacqueline Jackson, illustrated by Irene Burns Little, Brown 1967, 142 pages. "When twins Ophelia and Cordelia discover an antique doll in the attic of their new home, they find themselves in the middle of a mystery after someone steals the doll." It's two girls rather than a boy and a girl, though.
D19 doll solves mystery: another mystery doll appears in Mystery in Williamsburg, one of the Meg Mysteries by Holly Beth Walker, published Whitman 1972. The cover shows Meg and a boy in period costume running towards an old building. Inside blurb says: "A hidden chimney door, Miss Mariah's secret, the disappearing of Paris, Miss Mariah's childhood doll, muddy footprints on the back stairs, the missing valuable toys, the clues in the old diary ... these were some of the things that puzzled Meg when she went to Williamsburg with her Uncle Hal and her best friend Kerry Carmody. Working with Kerry as a junior hostess at the Toy Show, Meg soon found that her talent for discovering things was leading them into danger."
D19 doll secret: more on one suggested - Mystery of the Doll Hospital, by Elizabeth Honness, illustrated by Velma Ilsley, published Lippincott 1955, 183 pages. "Judith was happy about visiting Grandmother Hollis, who ran a doll hospital, but living in the city didn't seem exciting to her twin brother Jonathan until the night strange things began to happen. Why, the children wondered, did a midnight visitor ransack Grams' doll hospital, and then not take anything? Judy and Jon decide to find the answer, and before they are through they find mysteries all around them. A shifty stranger lurks outside the hospital and drops a paper with Grams' address on it. Another day he follows Judy. With their new friend Detective Purdy, who is trying to track down the midnight visitor, the children set traps in ash cans and give a Halloween party full of surprises. The end of the story is the biggest surprise of all."
Catherine Woolley, Ginny and the Mystery Doll, 1950's.  Ginny finds a doll in an antique shop who holds the key to a lost fortune. She is on vacation in Cape Cod when she finds the doll.  Setting seems to be in the 1950's  Don't know about a brother.  Wooley wrote wonderful and pleasant series of mystery/adventures with Ginny as well as a number of picture books under the name Jane Thayer.  God bless her!
Alice Putnam, The Spy Doll.  This meets only about half of your description, but I thought I'd throw it out there. A little girl from Maryland (I think) travels with her mother to Harper's Ferry, WV during the Civil War. She is unaware that her southern-sympathizer parents and their doctor friend have filled the head of her china doll with quinine for the Confederate troops. The story is told from the perspective of the doll, who knows that she has become a blockade runner.


D22: Doctor Visits Peter
Solved: Playmate for Peter 

D23: Daguerreotype and Bicycle
I am looking for a large hard-back book probably from the 50's about a little boy that is the youngest kid in his family and doesn't feel he has anything to call his own.  He finally gets a BICYLE, and at the end of the book they get their DAGUERROTYPE taken.  The last pages of the book show a photographer under an old fashioned-camera hood and there's a little bird on top of the camera.  The last page is a picture of the family and the youngest boy is in the lower corner posing WITH the bicyle.  One thing that really sticks with me about this book is that the word "daguerrotype" was used.  THANKS!

Here is what could be the answer:  There's a book called Lars Peter, about a boy who is approaching his (9th?) birthday, which is on Sunday. His mother takes him on her bike, but all he can see is the back of her coat.  His father takes him on his bike, but he also can't see.  All he wants is his own bicycle for his birthday.  It's a foreign book--Lars Peter keeps asking his parents, "Mor, when will it be Sunday?"  "Far, when will it be Sunday?"  He dreams of being a chimney sweep and a bicycle racer.  Of course, Sunday finally comes and he gets his own shiny red bicycle.  I don't know that it had the word "daguerrotype" in it, but it sounds like a similar book.



D26: Doug's bike
Solved: Lucky Chuck

D32: Death and losing someone close to you
Solved: Memories Live Forever

D33: David
All I remember is that the book was about a little boy.  I think his name was David.  It was a rather long book, and was about his life.   I recall the black and white drawings on the cover of David looking at a bus moving away from him.  I don't expect much, so don't worry!  Thanks for your help.

I read the list and was wondering if D33 a book about David could fit this title Just David by the author of Pollyana I believe.  But I don't remember anything about a bus. Just David is a story about a boy and his father that live on a mountain. The father and son play violins. The father is dying and they go down the mountain.  The father writes a letter to David. They sleep in a barn. The father dies.  The couple decide to keep the boy. He plays the violin and makes friends with people in town. A wonder story.
Thank you so much. I really didn't expect to ever get a reply. I will check out this book soon. Thanks again.
D33 - there was a book translated to portuguese called I am David about a jewish (?) boy who was a refugee. It must have been a well known book to be translated into portuguese but I would not recall the author. If it had to do with refugees maybe UNICEF can help further
D33 - I Am David is by Anna Holm
D33 my suggestion for this one is The Two Worlds of Davy Blount by Thelma Harrington Bell, published by Viking, 1962. Haven't seen the book, so don't know about the illustrations, but it seems to be about 200 pages long. Davy lives with his grandparents on the North Carolina coast and enjoys life by the sea. His grandmother hates the sea (Davy's parents drowned) and eventually sends Davy on a 500 mile bus trip to relatives in the Blue Ridge Mountains for the summer. He is met at the bus stop by Sally, mother of his 4 cousins. Lots of adventures both on the coast and in the mountains, and the question "Which shall it be, mountains or sea?".
I saw the cover of Two Worlds of Davy Blount on EBay, and it's a b/w ink painting of a ship in a storm, so less likely that it's the wanted book.
Anne Holm, I am David, '60s.  I remember the cover of the paperback here in New Zealand was Black background with a white picture of a boy on the cover. It is a story about David who is searching for his family in WW2. He travels right across Europe. (i think- I read this when I was 8) I do have a copy of this book still at my mothers so can double check. tHE SCENE i REMEMBER MOST VIVIDLY IN THE BOOK IS WHEN SOME CHILDREN ARE PLAYING (COWBOYS AND iNDIANS i THINK) in a shed and it catches fire. David rescues a little girl trapped inside
D33 david: long shot, but what about Big Little Davy, written and illustrated by Lois Lenski, published Oxford 1956. "The complete story of Davy's life, from the time he is a very tiny baby to the day he starts school. A unique Davy book, and a wonderful companion to Davy's Day, Surprise for Davy, and A Dog Came to School. Ages 3-6." (HB Dec/56 p.482 pub ad)
Anne Holm, North to Freedom. I just wanted to add that in the USA this book has been called North to Freedom and is still in print.  On the cover, he is looking back at search lights, not a bus!



D35: Dobbin comes back
I have illustrations that my stepfather had. The illustrations were drawn by Walter L. Brown. On a few
of the illustrations on the backs they say, story "Dobbin Comes Back","Easy on the Reins", and "All right & Privileges". They are all of horses. The drawings date form theyears 1941 to 1947. Walter L. Brown was from Ohio that I do know. Do you know anything about him. They are very nice illustrations that is why I could not believe I cannot find anything on this man. Please let me know if you have any information on him. Thank you.

These sound more like illustrated "Events", rather than book titles? Perhaps Mr. Brown illustrated events that took place or of race horses or something of that nature. "Dobbin Comes Back","Easy on the Reins", and "All Right & Privileges" strike me as illustration titles, discriptives of the actual illustration perhaps? Wish I could be more help! Did you have a look at D39? That may help as well.
Walter L. Brown was clearly an equine artist, and seems to have specialized in the American Saddlebred and other gaited breeds of horse (Morgans, Hackneys, etc.) so you might be able to find out more from a forum focusing on those breeds of horse.  Also, the American Saddlebred Museum has postcards by him for sale, so contacting them might help.   



D36: Dognapping Mystery
In this book, probably a drab 1950s cloth-covered hardbound, a sixteen-year-old boy, Andy, loses his black cocker spaniel, Spider, to dognappers in what he previously believed "the safest town in the world." Andy moves to the country and finds Moses, a black dog so named because he was found in rushes or by water. Moses (as I remember) starts out as a puppy, but grows into a huge dog that helps Andy and his dad locate the dognappers. Later they find Spider, who somehow escaped the dognappers to be adopted by some nice people. Not The Black Spaniel Mystery, by Betty Cavanna, or The Cocker Spaniel Mystery, by Hazel Louise Raybold Langdale.

D36 dognapping: there's a stolen terrier in The Dog Show Mystery, by E. Thompson, illustrated by J. Russell, published Abelard 1966, 133 pages. But it's about two children and their efforts to find the dog, and no mention of a boy called Andy or a second dog adopted.
D36 dognapping: not a perfect match, but there is The Dognappers, by Kay Richardson, illustrated by Joe Capozio, published Century 1968, orange hardcover, cover illo of dogs, in the Learning to Read, Reading to Learn series. "Dogs are disappearing from the neighborhood. Nobody seems to know why. Finally, Jeff & Cathy put all the clues together & come up with an answer." Nothing about Andy, though, and the time-span seems shorter. No plot description, but the title is a bit hopeful - Me and Andy, a Boy and Dog Story, by Raymond Ransome Kelly, illustrated by Electra Papadopoulos with 6 colour plates, published Laidlaw 1928, 164 pages, reprinted Whitman 1938, with 2 colour plates.
D36 dognapping: probably not right, because it's from the dog's point of view, but in case - Tarr of Belway Smith by Nan Hayden Agle, illustrated by Barbara Seuling, Seabury Press 1969. "Tarr was a big, black Labrador retriever from Belway Kennels. He thought he was the biggest, blackest, most beautiful dog in the world. Everybody said he was. Then one day the Hooper Dog came strolling up the lane as though he owned the place. And he was bigger than Tarr. The trouble starts when a jealous Tarr jumps on the Hooper Dog and almost wins the fight, except that the Smiths stop the fight and take Hooper Dog inside. That's when Tarr decides to run away and when even bigger trouble starts -- he's taken by dognappers. Also known as That Dog Tarr."
Here's another one it isn't:  Spider Dog, by Priscilla Cumming.  A bookseller sent this description:  "This is the story of Deb and Richard and Dixter, their 'Spider' dog, in their many exciting adventures.  Here we meet the gypsies, Luke and his father Golden, and the weird wise woman, Mother Matty, and join with Deb and Richard in many escapades, finishing with a thrilling midnight round-up of the diddicoys, in which Dixter comes through as no mean hero."  Adding:  "I don't know what diddicoys are, do you?"  (I expect it's another spelling for "diddakoi," a British nickname for Gypsy, and, from what I could tell from the Rumer Godden book, none too complimentary.)  Dixter was the runt of the litter of spaniels and he had a strange brown mark on his head which resembled a spider.  I am guessing that he was brown and white.  Luke saved him from being drown in the first chapter.  Deb and Richard buy him from Luke.  There does seem to be another dog called Misty but without actually reading the whole book I couldn't tell if there was an actual mystery involved in the story or just 'adventures.'

At least I got a message from PUBYAC even if it is wrong:  Since a librarian just suggested Bonny's Boy, by F. E. Rechnitzer.   Philadelphia:  the John C. Winston Company, 1946 , and Bonny's Boy Returns,  by F. E. Rechnitzer.  Philadelphia:  the John C. Winston Company, 1953, here goes with a description for the record.  Our local library has the first book (I didn't know till now there was a sequel), which does fit in some ways:  the boy's name is Davy, but that's close enough I'd accept it in place of Andy, as we did read another boy-and-dog story the same year about a boy named Andy, so I could be wrong as to the boy's name, and he does talk in that old-fashioned way which would have seemed hokey to us in the '70s. I am, however, sure of the dogs' names, Spider and Moses.  Moses, in particular, made an impression because my mom always objected to "giving a perfectly good person's name to a dog," and giving a Biblical name was, of course, worse.  In Rechnitzer's books the dog (right color and breed) is named "Bonny's Boy," "Bon" for short.  Davy's dad does play an important part in the story, but he also has a mother, which I don't remember in the book we read.  There is a "scheme" and a "trap," but neither involve dognapping.  Can't be the book I'm after.
Very little info here but the date makes it a candidate: Puppy Stakes by Betty Cavanna (1953) Girl runs a kennel, story involves a litter of black spaniels. Here's hoping!
One of my many online searches for this turned up a page devoted to cocker spaniels, including fiction.  So many titles have been suggested I am compiling quite a list.  Sometime I hope to find that page again and submit all these!  Here is another suggestion which is nothing like the book I want:  Puppy Stakes.  Cavanna, Betty.  Originally published by The Westminster Press in 1943 before being issued in Grosset & Dunlap's "Starlight Novels for Modern Girls" series.  Philadelphia:  Westminster Press, 1943, and New York:  Grosset & Dunlap, 1943, 262 pages.  A teen-aged girl has few hopes for excitement during her time spent with country relatives, but when her arrival coincides with that of a litter of pups from the family's cocker spaniel, things take an unexpected turn for the better.  "Paprika's having pups" was hardly the welcome Janey expected.  But the litter of cocker spaniels who stole the limelight from Janey's arrival soon won her heart, just as they will win yours.  Teenage story about a girl who goes to live with her aunt and the cocker spaniel puppy, Budge.



D39: Dobbin the horse
I remember a book when I was a child (that would be 40 to 50 years ago) about a horse on a farm named Dobbin.  The image I recall is he has his front leg lifted and there baby chicks all around him.  I have two ceramic figurines like that and would be interested in obtaining the book. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Possible though not certain: Old DobbinAkron, Saalfield 1927 Square 8vo linen cloth. 4 black & white and 2 color illustrations of animals. Horse and pigs on cover.  Out in the Country Akron, Saalfield 1923 Square 8vo, pictorial stapled linen cloth, 6pp. + covers, "Color cover shows a boy in riding clothes on a horse + 2 more full color plates of chickens and pigs; other plates are an outline drawing of a collie, ducks, old dobbin a work horse & 2 turkeys."


D40: Doll maker makes clone
Im looking for a book for My Mom. She read it in the 40's or 50's It was a story about a girl who takes  her doll to be fixed. The doll maker makes a doll to look like her (the girl).  Thats all i have to go on.
Hope someone can help me.

Not quite The Surprise Doll or Mystery in the Doll Hospital....
I'm wondering if this might be The Surprise Doll by Morrell Gipson after all? The surprise doll does end up looking just like the little girl, with the features she shares with the other 6 dolls.
The book described as D40 Doll Marker Makes Clone under Stump the Bookseller sounds like the book I have been remembering all my of life from my own childhood in the 40's-50's.

It is not The Surprise Doll as suggested. The added details that I remember are that the little girl took her wagon over a little bridge every day for a week and each day she received a new doll until, on Sunday, she received one that looked just like her. This was a picture book, beautifully-illustrated.


D41: Diamond, street urchin in historical fiction
This may be outside your parameters, since it's not a children's book, (though I read it in my early teens). Smaller octavo, cheap printing, possibly a book club or uniform edition, believe it was British. Definitely printed before 1974, possibly early 1960s. Set in the 1700s, plot concerns a young woman with some sort of mysterious inheritance, who enlists the aid of a (rather tough) young barrister/solicitor to help her prove her case, which involved (McGuffin alert!) legal papers in a (metal?) box. They obviously fall in love, there's a rival suitor and assorted bad guys. The really memorable (but minor) character is a pickpocket called Diamond (NOTHING like the kid in Behind the North Wind) who tries to steal from the young lawyer and is caught but not turned over to the Watch, causing him to become a useful ally. Diamond looks angelic and carries a knife, being small enough to get under a man's guard in a brawl. The incident I remember clearly is that Diamond is forced by the main bad guy, who knows him?, to row out to a reef or island to find the McGuffin box. Diamond abandons the guy there and rows away, weeping from the stress and fear, leaving the man to be drowned by the tide.

D41 - I wonder if this is Leon Garfield's John Diamond. I don't have a copy at the moment to check it, but sounds like what I remember of it.
Unfortunately, though Leon Garfield's books seem so likely, featuring lawyers and barristers, street urchins, mysterious papers and quests in the 1700s, this book isn't by him. He actually started writing after I read the unknown book, and I read most of his as they came out. Sigh. I'm also pretty sure that Diamond did not feature in the title - he was a secondary character, though the most memorable.
Still looking for this myself. A possible author is Sutherland Ross, who was writing in the right time period (early 60s) in England, and wrote stories involving highwaymen, street urchins, London, etc. as well as contemporary mysteries. One of his books is called The Twopenny Diamond Mystery, but I can't find a description, and I'm still pretty sure Diamond wasn't in the title.
as the original poster and continuing searcher, I've finally remembered a small (very small) clue. This book was on the same shelf (mystery section) as A Finger to Her Lips, by E. Berckman. So the author's surname likely began with A or B, making Sutherland Ross and Leon Garfield less likely authors.
Found brief mention of Holly  Hunter's Lothian Run (1974?) Set in 1700's- Barrister-Edinburgh-smuggling.?? Also, if you think author begins with A of B is it possible Joan Aiken may be the one? She has so many books- often set in days past?



D42: Dan, Dan, Fried Egg Man
Another favorite was misplaced and I would like to  find a copy of it.  I thought the title was Dan the  Fried Egg Man.  However, I have done searches on several websites with no results.  I do not know the
author.  I am not certain of the title, but I know a line that was repeated in the book several times was
"Dan, Dan, the Fried Egg Man".  It may have been a  Parents Book Club selection.

D42 sounds an awful lot like someone has based a book on the folksong "Old Dan Tucker".  There is a line in the song that refers to him washing his face in a frying pan---the song also refers to him as "too late to get yer (his) supper"---maybe this is where the fried egg association is coming in.  There are lots of verses, so maybe there is a fried egg in one of them.  The chorus goes something like "Git out the way, old Dan Tucker (repeated 3 times)....yer too late to get yer supper!"  One of the verses has "Combed his hair with a wagon wheel, died with a toothache in his heel".
Dick Gackenbach, Hattie, Tom and the Chicken Witch (1980 approximate) This book does repeat the line "Dan, Dan the Fried Egg Man" over and over.  It is a Hattie Rabbit story where Hattie tries to get a part in the Easter play.  The entire middle section of the book consists of the play itself, and takes place back when all Easter eggs were white, and all the hens promised their eggs to Dan, the Fried Egg Man, who uses them to make his famous fried eggs.  A few hens get concerned about not having enough eggs for Easter, and they try to outwit Dan in various ways when he comes to demand his eggs each morning.  Eventually, the hens paint their eggs to hide them, thus beginning the tradition of painted Easter eggs, and Dan had to become the Fried-Potato Man.
Dick Gackenbach, Hattie, Tom and the Chicken Witch I am pretty sure that I have the answer to this stumper. This book is actually about an Easter play put on by Hattie and Tom Rabbit that involves a bunch of hens trying to save their eggs from "Dan the Fried Egg Man" so that there will be eggs for Easter.  During the play, Dan's gang comes around to the henhouse each morning demanding all of the eggs for "Dan, Dan, the Fried Egg Man" so that he can make his famous fried eggs.  Finally, the hens hatch a plot to color their eggs and hide them from Dan so that they can be used for Easter fun, and Dan is forced to become the Fried Potato Man.



D43: Doll cleans outhouse!
Solved: Becky Lou in Grandmother's Days 

D46: Diamonds in doll
Solved: Marta Finds the Golden Door 

D47: Dollhouse family comes to life
Solved: The Dollhouse Caper

D48: Doll choices
Solved: Merry, Rose, and Christmas-Tree June

D49: Doll hospital
I'm sorry that all the info. I can give you is from my childhood memories of this book!  It is about a young girl who sets up a doll hospital in, I believe, the base of a large tree.  There are several beautifully illustrated pictures of dolls and stuffed animals coming to the tree on crutches, etc.  She fixes them and makes them well.  This is driving me crazy, because in my mind I can see this book in full detail but can not recall the name or author.  It would be quite old and I believe it may have been one of my mother's childhood books but she does not recall this book either!!!!!!!  HELP!!!!!!!!  I have to have this book again!

This is next to no help at all, but I think I read something very similar in a British annual (not Rupert, another one) in the 1960s.
The annual you are thinking of is Twinkle, which for many years ran a strip about a girl and her Doll's Hospital. I also vividly remember the pictures of teddy bears on crutches!
It was Nurse Nancy, the character in Twinkle - but she didn't have her doll's hospital in a tree, so I doubt it's that. Sorry.
Molly Brett, The Jumble Bears, 1977.  May be a little late, and features teddy bear doctors instead of a girl, but they do help other toys from the base of an old tree.
Josephine Scribner Gates, Live Dolls, 1908.  Long shot, but sounds like something from my grandmother's book Live Dolls, where the dolls of Cloverdale come alive and have adventures with their girl owners. There is a tragic scene where all the broken dolls are brought to the doll hospital and tended & fixed up by the Queen of Dolls. No stuffed animals, however.



D51: Deep in the forest
I read the book somewhere between 1964 and '68. It was a small hardbound book with some lovely line illustrations. It was about a young girl who discovers a little cabin deep in the woods and sets up a "secret" home there. In the process she befriends the animals (bears, etc.) and they form a
pseudo-family. I remember that the cabin was small - her size, so to speak which made the story that much more charming.

No chance this is Marilyn Sachs' The Bears' House (1970s), is there? Of course, there is no woods. But
the importance of family is everything in that story. I can't stress enough how good that book is - though one dimwit reviewer in the 1970s called it pointless and too disturbing for kids - as if there were no poor or neglected kids in the world who might identify with Fran Ellen! It's also strange, when you think about it, why the teacher in the book - who has such a modern understanding of how different children can't all make the same kinds of progress - would go by such an old-fashioned system that rewards only the "best" child. The sequel is Fran Ellen's House.
could D51 be a book called Mandy?  It was by Julie Andrews under a pen name which I can't remember--Julie something.  Anyway, it was about a little girl who finds a cottage in the woods and makes it her own.  I can't remember the rest of the details.  If I find the name of the author I'll send it in.
Hi.  I'm emailing again about D51.  The author of Mandy, the book which I thought might be D51, was
Julie (Andrews) Edwards.  I just read the description online and it didn't tell much, except that Mandy was
a little orphan girl.  It didn't say anything about befriending animals though.
Just got out Mandy and verified that it is NOT the right book. The cottage is in the woods next to the orphanage; she fixes it up some and then goes there in a terrible storm when she is very ill. Is taken to the owner's mansion and of course, eventually they adopt her.
D51 deep in the forest: here's a long shot - is the poster positive it was a little girl and not a doll? The plot is similar to Dare Wright's The Little One, where the doll escapes into the forest with toy bears and makes friends with the small animals.



D52: Dorcas and Michael
Solved: The Humming Top

D53: Dora Wheeler and Daisy
When I was very young my great grandmother read to me from a tiny little book about little english girls named Dora Wheeler and her friend Daisy. Grandma said that the book came from a church library early in the 1900's. It was moralistic in tone, but the little girls had lots of fun playing parcheesi in front of the fireplace. They referred to the porch as the veranda and they owned a phaeton (horse-drawn carriage). I would dearly  love to know more about this little book. I have the copy that I was read to from, but the title page is missing and there are no other identifying marks.

daisy ashford, the young visitors, 1919.  This might be the book you're looking for-I remember it as a very slim, small format hardcover.
I have The Young Visitors in stock, and it features an Ethel Monticue, Bernard Clark and Mr. Salteena, and an introduction by J.M. Barrie.  Not a match.



D55: Dragon cries a river
Solved: Tears of the Dragon

D57: Dunkee Teewee
Solved: Outlaws of Ravenhurst

D58: Dance on the donkey
Solved: Paquita the Ballerina from Mallorca


D59: Dolls come alive in a playhouse
I remember reading this book as a child (way back in the 70's!), but I think that it must have been written in the late 30's or 40's. It was about a young girl who had a fabulous (in the eyes of this 7 year-old reader) playhouse that was populated with a group of dolls that would come to life when the girl left.  My memories of the book are very fuzzy, but I remember that they cooked, did dishes, all sorts of things.  I'd love to find out the author/title.  Please help!

D59 Racketty-Packetty House, by Frances Hodgson Burnett? I can answer questions about it from my treasured copy.
#D59:  Dolls come alive in a playhouse--The Story of Live Dolls, by Josephine Scribner Gates, involves dolls coming alive, a fantastic playhouse, and a maid-of-all-work doll who does cooking and dishwashing.
Sounds like it could be THE DOLL'S HOUSE by Rumer Godden, ill. by Tasha Tudor, 1947. It's still available in print, but I think the republished paperback version has a new front cover (the inside illustrations are still by Tasha Tudor)  ~from a librarian
There's the Five Dolls series byHelen Clare (Pauline Clarke's pseudonym) about a family of live dollhouse dolls, but in that their young owner, Elizabeth, can shrink to doll size and enter the dollhouse, where they consider her the landlady and call her Mrs. Small. The dolls are Vanesssa, Amanda, Jane, Lupin and Jacqueline, a 'paying guest'. There's also a monkey that sits on the roof and shouts rude comments down the chimney. The dolls
do fix up the house, hold parties etc., but Elizabeth shares in their activities, so this may not be it. They were published by Bodley Head in the 50s and 60s. (Five Dolls in a House, 1953; Five Dolls and the Monkey, 1956; Five Dolls and the Duke, 1963; Five Dolls and their Friends, 1967)
D59 The person might be thinking of  THE SECRET MUSEUM by Shelia Greenwald, 1974. A girl finds an abandoned playhouse full of dolls and cleans up the house. There is another girl who gets involved. When the rich lady who owns it finds out, it seems like she will take it away. But instead, she turns into a doll museum, with the girs' help. The dolls do magically speak because they are so upset at being neglected.
This is another guess, but it might be Big Susan, written and illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones.  It's about dolls in a dollhouse coming to life on Christmas Eve.  The dolls "live" through the human child, Susan, who plays
with them.  But then they are neglected by Susan during the holiday season because she is so busy.  When they come to life on Christmas Eve, they decide to clean up the dollhouse as a gift to Susan.
Not too likely, but The Doll's Christmas, written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, published Oxford 1950, 28 pages, "little girls from 4 to 8 will delight in the account and detailed pictures of the party given by Sethany Ann and Nicey Melinda. Their home has something new in doll houses - a conservatory wit tiny potted plants in it." (Horn Book Nov/50 p.478) The doll house shown in the illustration is indeed fabulous, being two stories high, taller than the little girl, opened into an L-shape to show the conservatory with kitchen beneath and master bedroom (including canopy bed) with parlor beneath.
Another possibility is The House in the Attic, by M. McGavin, illustrated by E. Green, published London, Cape 1964, 80 pages "Janet is a lonely child who is convinced that her mother no longer loves her because she has not come home from Canada. In the attic, where she is forbidden to go, Janet finds an old dollshouse. It is much nicer than the new one her mother has just sent. Janet transfers the furniture from the new house to the old one, and uses a new party dress to make curtains for it. She is terrified of her Aunt's reaction when she discovers the damage, bu Janet's mother arrives home just in time to understand and forgive." (Junior Bookshelf Nov/64 p.298)
Enid Blyton, Naughty Amelia Jane, c.1939. Amelia Jane is a doll. There's also a Gollywog, a Teddy bear and various other toys that come to life.



D60: Doll is left behind when family moves
Solved: Sad Day, Glad Day

D61: Diary of a teenaged girl
Solved: The Year of Janie's Diary

D62: Doll gets magical Christmas makeover
Solved: The Christmas Dolls

D63: Donald the Briton
I am searching for this children's book that my father remembers from his school days in the 1930s

G Henty, Beric the Briton.  Not quite the right title, but one of Henty's most famous books. Originally published in 1892, but reprinted many times up to the 1960s



D64:  Dried Up Sea
Solved:  The Day the Sea Rolled Back

D65:  Dolls, Christmas, Dusty Store Shelf
Solved:  Merry, Rose, and Christmas Tree June

D66: Drippy and Droppy
I think the book was published in the 1930s. It is a children's book with color plates, each plate opposite a page of text.  The main characters are Drippy and Droppy, two little raindrops, who take the reader on the journey of precipitation and condensation. They start out as rain drops or dew drops and then evaporate and become clouds, then rain and become raindrops, then fall into the ocean--that kind of thing.  The illustrations are in the style of line drawings with beautiful water color, detailed.

This isn't a book solution, but it reminds me of an album I had from the 50's or early 60's. Three stories: "Drippy, the Runaway Raindrop," same story as related in D66, "The Bear That Wasn't (name of the album)," and "Fantissimo, the Musical Horse." First two narrated by Keenan Wynn.  The title story, with great sound effects, was about a bear who's accidently stuck in a factory, and mistaken for "a silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat." The bosses and even other bears refuse to believe he's a bear. How I would love to get a copy of this. Sorry for the digression.
It looks like this book may have been re-incarnated (I'm not saying STOLEN, though I may be thinking it).  Check this out.   Drippy the Raindrop gives children an illustrated "introduction to the water cycle"   Rainy and Drippy, Two Raindrops in the Earth's Water Cycle" View the whole "book," which begins, "We are going to learn about a day in the life of two raindrops, Rainy and Drippy. These two raindrops are best friends. They live in a big, white, puffy cloud in the sky. There are lots of other raindrops that live in the cloud with Rainy and Drippy. "



D67: Doll That Was Too Sharp
Solved: The Little Wooden Doll

D68: Dollhouse desired
Solved: Susan's Magic

D69: Dalmation Dally
Solved: Fire Dog

D70: Dauphin, Watteau
Solved: Hummingbird

D71: Dog for davy's field
Solved: Dog for Davie's Hill

D72: Dragon for eating whole fish
This is japanese I think about a woman who is pregnant and is warned not to eat a whole fish by herself but does because she is so hungry. She is then turned into a dragon and has her baby. The baby won't do anything but cry until the dragon gives it one of her eyeballs to suck on/play with and then has to give her the other one too- so the dragon is blind but the baby grows up and finds the lake where the dragon lives and cries on her eyes and she can see again.
D73: Duck, mouse, bear
Solved:  Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever

D74: Doll in the attic
Solved: The Little Wooden Doll
D75: Dragon Book

Solved: The Hunting of the Dragon 
D76: Day the Sun Wouldn't Come Up

Solved: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
D77: Dust off the dominoes!

This Devlin book apparently turned out to be another child's favorite, because my son never was able to get it back after he shared it at school many, many moons ago.  So, even though we were not happy about the book not being returned,  the other side of the coin was that someone took it because they liked it and were probably reading it -- which was a good thing.  I always thought I'd get another through the book club, but time passed, and now I've forgotten which book had the "Dust off the dominoes" phrase.  I'd love to find a reasonably priced copy to give to that now adult son!

WENDE AND HARRY DEVLIN, THE KNOBBY BOYS TO THE RESCUE, 1965.



D78a:  Doll Hospital
Solved: The Toy House Dolls

D78b: ducks or swans
This is a long shot I know, but I have to try.  When I was a young child, in the early fifties, in the midwest, I was given a book that I really loved. Unfortunetly my parents home burned and it was lost in the fire.  What I remember most was that it was large, 8 1/2" x 11" or so.  It had swans or ducks, in color, on the hard cover and it was a collection of stories and poems printed in black and white, actually the pages were like that old vanilla looking paper. I have often thought about this book over the years as my kids grew up but really had no way of locating it that I knew of.  Now that I have grandchildren and the web I'm hoping to locate it.  I apologize for the sketchy description but just maybe it'll be found.  Thank you so much.
D79: duke's collections child murder

Solved: Porcelain Dove or Constancy's Reward

D80: dishes in the rain
Solved:  The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes

D81: diamond feather
Solved:  Diamond Feather
D82: dolls that talk to each other

Solved: Best-Loved Doll

D83: donuts
Solved: What Happened to George

D84: Dog tries to hatch from egg
Solved: How Fletcher Was Hatched

D85:  Dolls with personalities
I do remember it was about dolls.  There were a dozen different dolls that were all very pretty and dressed very nice.  There was one doll that was older and worn.  I think in the end someone did buy her and bring her home.  The dolls had personalities.  There were pictures in it, my mom thinks that the cover of the book was like a shadow-box with the different dolls in each nook.  A dark cover, something with "dollhouse" in the title.  If not do you know of a place I could look for this book or who might be able to help me?  I'm guessing it might have been published in the late 70s.

This makes me think of Rumer Godden's The Story of Holly and Ivy, for some reason. This includes the villainous stuffed owl Abracadabra, Holly is a doll, and Ivy is an orphan. If this isn't it, try The Peni Doll Page, which lists several doll stories near the bottom.
Rumer Godden, Tottie: The Story of a Dolls' House.  It's got the older worn doll (Tottie) and fits the bill in other ways, so is probably worth checking out.
Carol Beach York, The Christmas Dolls, This may or may not be the book sought, but I thought I'd suggest it just in case...  This story concerns two of many dolls that were donated to an orphanage for Christmas, which were rejected because they were in poor repair.  In the end the flawed dolls are loved and adopted by one of the orphans, and their flaws are fixed.
Rebecca Caudill, The Best Loved Doll,1962.This does not sound exactly like what you are looking for, because the dolls are not for sale but have been brought by their little girl owners to a birthday party. All the 12 dolls are beautiful and/or have something impressive about them and win awards--except for Jennifer, who is old and ratty.  But the quick-thinking and kind mother of the birthday girl comes up with a prize for Jennifer--as the best loved doll. :)


2002


D86: Doll lost in the woods or the park
Solved: Lizzie's Twins 

D87: Dog's teenaged owner gets shot
Solved: Remember 
D88: Diary becomes real
Solved:  Neverending Story
SOLVED:
Jeffie Ross Gordan, The Journal of Emily Rose, 1986. After several years, I finally tracked this book down - it is the Journal of Emily Rose by Jeffie Ross Gordon.


D89: Decorating book from 1960's - 70's
Solved: A Groovy Guide to Decorating Your Room 

D90: Dog Theft Camp Razor Blades Swimming
While at a camp(?), two or more children find a white dog who loves to swim with them every day.  Eventually they discover that the dog has been involved in a rash of thefts in the vacation area.  The dog was dyed black, and was trained to stand quietly by until the thief asked for "razor blades, DOUBLE EDGED" and the dog attacked the clerk while they robbed the place.  After each robbery, the thieves took the dog swimming to remove the black dye or paint.  I read a lot of "Happy Hollister" books and "Trixie Belden" books but am not sure if this is one of them.  I graduated from H.S. in 1976, so it was likely well before that.  Thanks for any info. you can help me with!

I don't know if this helps, but this is definitely not a Happy Hollister book.
I love your website, which I just discovered!  For what it's worth, the Stump the Bookseller entry D90 is definitely not a Trixie Belden book.  Or to be more accurate, it's not any of the original 16 titles in the series, and it's not any of the titles up to #28 (as far as I read; I understand there were more after that).
It's a long shot, but could it be Ellery Queen's Black Dog Mystery?  A description and pictures can be found on this website.
D90 dog theft swimming: might be worth looking at The Mystery at Moccasin Bend, by Christine Noble Govan and Emmy West, illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman, published Sterling  1957, 191 pages; beige pictorial cloth boards. "The Cherokee Club rescues a nice Irish Setter when they see him floundering in the swift current of the flooding Tennessee River and their adventures begin."



D91: Dragon and Witch
Solved: Prince Bertram the Bad 

D92: Designs by Suzy
This was a novel about a young woman named Suzy who wanted to be a fashion designer.  She ended up owning her own retail children's clothing shop, specializing in Tyrolean-style designs. I think that she designed and made the clothing herself, and the setting was a ski resort. There was a love interest -- he might have worked at the ski resort. The book was highly descriptive, to the extent that even today -- some 30 years after reading it last -- I have a clear mental image of what Suzy's shop looked like. At the time, at least, it also seemed exceptionally mature in its writing. In retrospect, it reminds me of Rosemary du Jardin's "twins" series (Double Date, etc.), although I don't think she was the author. I'm quite certain of the title of this book, despite the fact that it is not listed in the Library of Congress (I checked the physical card catalogue there -- years ago when they had one -- as well as, more currently, the on-line search). It's probably not at all helpful, but I used to check this book out of the Springfield, VA library.

Could it possibly be Styles by Suzy by Karla H. Wiley, Decorations by Genia.  Published/Created: New York, D. McKay Co., 1965. 250 p. illus. 21 cm.  Found in Library of Congress catalog - using keyword of Suzy in title.  Unfortunately, no description is available, but the call number is one given to works of fiction.
I  found a website with same title as the stumper, but it was a false lead.
Betty Cavanna.  I'm not actually sure, but this rings a bell with me.  The writing style would be correct and I have some recollection of the story.  I hope this can be a lead.
Kathleen Robinson, Designed by Suzanne, 1968.  New York, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. [1968] "A girl just graduated from high school decides to start her own business, designing and making dresses, in order to finance a year in design school."
Robinson, Kathleen, Desined by Suzanne,NY Lothrop 1965.  Just going by the title and subject this sounds likely. "A warm, sympathetic novel in which Suzanne faces the decision of whether to embark on an early marriage or a career in designing clothes. Ages 12-16." (Horn Book Apr/65 p.133 pub ad)
How about Styles By Suzy by Karla H. Wiley (New York: D. McKay Co., c.1965).  I couldn't find any description, but there are 45 copies available in U.S. libraries.  Have your local library interlibrary loan a copy for you to see if it's the right book.
D92 sounds like Styles By Suzy by Mary Carney Thielmann.


D93:  Dog comes with house
Solved: Muley-Ears, Nobody's Dog 
D94:  "Dr. Goat put on his coat and went out to make some calls."

Solved: Dr. Goat


2003


D95: Dinky Donk Book information
Solved: The Paper Party


D96: Dollmaker, Doll Repairs
Solved: Katy Comes Next


D97: dollhouse, cat
Solved: Millicent's Cat


D98: Deward
I'm Deward Houck.  My father is Deward Houck.  Much controversy existed as to where my dad got his first name "Deward."  For years family tradition had it that my dad's mom named him.  His mom claimed his sister named him.  Just before her death my aunt admitted she had named my father based upon a character in a book she had read or been reading.  My dad was born January 1930.  To complicate things a bit, although my dad always went by "Deward" the name on his birth certificate is "Duart."  It is not known which of these names was the actual character in the book.

Not a solution but a suggestion:  there is a Duart Castle in Scotland (www.duartcastle.com), which may suggest that your aunt was reading some kind of Scottish legend or romance.
Another suggestion: Deward and Duart are both French surnames. 



D99: Doodles
Solved: Droodles


D100: Danish Boy Hans Christian Clausen
I am looking for a book I read in the late 1940s.  It is about a Danish boy named Hans Christian Clausen who plays the flute and wants to meet the king of Denmark.  He also visits an uncle and aunt who live in Copenhagen and they visit the round tower.

D101: different houses
Solved: The Big Orange Splot


D102: Did You Know that your ceiling is somebody else's floor?
The only thing I remember about this children's book is that it showed different ways of looking at things, such as "did you know that your ceiling is somebody else's floor?" and other interesting ways of seeing things. Unfortunately, this is the only one I remember, but the book was filled with them. It made quite an impression on my as a young child.

Betty MacDonald, The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Treasury. Originally published in 1947 by Harper Collins, illustrated by Hilary Knight.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle did live in an upside-down house, but it didn't really focus on different ways of looking at things.



D103: drugs
I first heard about this book on NPR. It was about a small group of guys in Washington DC who went after large international drug dealers. There were stories about drug dealing in Moscow where they traded blocks of pressed diamonds for drugs. There was also a chapter called "James Bond". This was followed by a chapter called "Mrs James Bond". There was also a chapter about a drug dealer in Mexico who controlled an entire state there, and had his own private army, etc. This book had a black cloth cover, and was pretty thick, maybe 3" or so. Im sure its out of print now. Its been buggin me for years, Id really like to get hold of a copy. Thanks!

Ian Fleming, The Diamond Smugglers (1957) (from the original jacket copy of the Jonathan Cape edition) " A major campaign against the greatest smuggling racket in the world - the smuggling of diamonds from Africa, to the tune of some ten million pounds a year - has just been completed. It took three years, Paris was involved and Antwerp, Beirut, Freetown, Johannesburg - and Moscow." About "some guys in London" rather than DC, but it can't hurt to suggest it



D104: doll
I remember a book about a little girl who found some dolls in an old tree. She had just moved and was alone. I read this in the 50's and could not trce it in the mid 60's

Possibly The Jumble Bears by Molly Brett. It is about a hospital at the base of a tree run by 2 teddy bears. I don't think there is a little girl, though.



D105: Darius
Solved: The Dragon Who Liked to Spit Fire


D106: The Doll's House
The setting for this children's book is a doll house where the dolls actually live and interact with each other. I don't think any people were in the story, just the dolls. It was an illustrated book, I believe from the 30s or 40s, recalling the look and feel of the drawings. I read it sometime in the 60's.  It may have been an oversized book.    It is not the Doll's House by Rumer Godden.

D106  Josephine Scribner Gates, The Story of Live Dolls, 1901-1920.   A section of this story, entitled, "How the Dolls
Came Alive" appears in Book Trails- Through the Wildwood. Published by Child Development Inc., Chicago c. 1946
Enid Blyton, Mary Mouse and the Dolls House.  Mary Mouse is a sort of housekeeper/ nanny in a dolls house. The child
dolls are Pip, Melia and Roundy. There were several books from the series, which I remember from my childhood  and they
were quite big books with lots of pictures. Other possibilities could include Helen Clare's Five Dolls in a House and
Frances Hodgson Burnett's Racketty Packetty House
There are so many books about dolls coming to life, but the one that comes to mind here is Racketty-Packetty House. There is some human interaction, but not much.  Any more details available?
D106 The only thing about Racketty-Packetty House is that it is by no means an oversized book; it's more like a Beatrix
Potter size. My mother never told me how much she had had to pay for a copy for me when I was grown. Meg, Peg and
Kilmanskeg are some of the dolls' names.
I thought Racketty-Packetty, but the "outsize" portion of the clue does that theory in.
Helen Clark.  Could this be one of the Five Dolls books? Five Dolls and a Monkey, Five Dolls and Their Friends, Five Dolls and the Duke? They were published in the 50s and 60s but the drawings and clothes the dolls wear are somewhat dated looking.



D107: doll and girl identical (NOT Surprise Doll)
I checked this oicture book out of the little Carmel Valley library over and over as a child in the 50's, entranced by the soft wash illustrations of a girl and a doll identical to her.  They were both brunette, maybe even with black hair, and the illustrator used a lot of soft blue and pink.  I can remember nothing more except that it seemed overwhelmingly beautiful to me.


D108: Debbie's mussed hair
Solved: Debbie and Her Nap


D109: dog digging deeper and deeper (animal alliteration)
This animal alliteration alphabet book taught my son to read in 1980. Neither of us can remember any of the other letters, but the "D" was clever. A dog is digging down (thinking of bones), and he digs "deeper and deeper". Eventually, to his dismay, a live dinosaur appears and asks, "Done digging?" The dog sheepishly replies, "Definitely!" We'd be thrilled if anyone else can identify this book for the benefit of the next generation. Without author or title, we've been totally stumped.

D109  Sounds similar to one I remember about a dog that had to be taught to dig and then wouldn't stop, I think it was
The Diggiest Dog or similar
Found the one I was thinking of:  The Digging-est Dog. Perkins, Al Random House/Beginner Books. 1967.  When Sammy Brown buys a dog, he names it Duke.  But when he takes him home, Duke doesn't know how to dig like the other dogs, but he soon learns.  Dogs in story are, dalamation, collie, black  scottish terrier, dachshund and others. Story begins: "I was the
saddest dog you could ever see, Sad because no one wanted me.  The pet shop was my jail.  The sign behind me said, 'For
Sale.'
That's a wonderful book, but it's not a match to the alphabet book sought.
Here are the titles of two alliterative animal books written through 1980.  At least one is an alphabet book. Peggy Parish, A Beastly Circus, 1969  illustrates twenty-six letters of the alphabet with alliterative phrases: "Mischievous masked minks messily mix malted milk."   The other:  Great gorilla grins : an abundance of animal alliterations, by Beth Hilgartner, 1979  "A collection of alliterative descriptions of a variety of animals." The author's website shows the cover and has a page scanned.  I also found a list of many picture books with alliteration.  Perhaps you will recognize the title or authors name from this list.
D109 Aother book to add to alliterative alphabets is: Hefter, Richard.  An animal alphabet. illus by Richard Hefter.  Holt, 1974.



D110: Donner breakoff party thru Death Valley
Narrator was bachelor point man for the party. He would find campsites and prepare them for pioneers' arrival. Many women would collapse on blankets. So much for "strong" pioneer women. The cover was red or red/orange. Think the title had the word 'West', but am not certain.

I thought there was something on the Solved Mysteries page about this, but all I found was Mystery At Thunderbolt House by Howard Pease (check out that entry, anyway).  Allright then, Cornelia, this stumper's officially for you.
#D110--Donner breakoff party thru Death Valley:  How nice to be mentioned by name!  It so happens I have a list of over 40 4 x 6 notecards, typewritten, of Oregon, California, and Mormon Trail novels, which I collect for a man in Oregon.  The Donner books should be identified as such and as juvenile or adult.  I could try sending this collector the description; if he doesn't know it, I can start listing all the Donner novels if you REALLY want.  --Cornelia
This is what I know about Donner Party novels, since my friend wasn't able to identify the one requested.  (My list has a whole lot of California Trail novels, but I tried to note Donner titles specifically.)  Croy, Homer.  Wheels West:  The Story of the Donner Party.  New York:  Hastings House Publishers, 1955.  Juvenile fiction.  Keithley, George. The Donner Party.  New York:  George Braziller, 1972.  Adult book-length poem, hardcover which I believe IS bright orange.
Laurgaard, Rachel K.  Patty Reed's Doll.  Caldwell, Idaho:  The Caxton Printers, 1961.  Still in print, this juvenile novel is told from the point of view of the Reed children and has a predominantly light blue cover.  Stewart, George R.  Ordeal by Hunger, originally published 1936.  Adult non-fiction.  Stewart also wrote To California by Covered Wagon, 1954, retitled The Pioneers Go West, 1964.  I think these are adult fiction California Trail but not sure if they're Donner Party.  Willoughby, Lee Davis.  The Donner People.  New York:  Dell, 1982.  Adult fiction, part of a series which I believe appeared only in paperback.  And here's a brand-new one: Philbrick, Rodman.  The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds:  The Donner Party Expedition, 1846.  My Name is America Series. New York:  Scholastic, 2001.  Juvenile fiction.
Thank you for your response. I should have said the breakoff party went through Death Valley. We read the book to our boys on one of many trips to Death Valley when they were pre-teens, probably the last half of the '60's. Don't think the title included the word "Donner".  It wasn't a new book at that time. This might help. I loved reading some of the other stumper requests. It's interesting that so many are looking for childhood favorites to pass on to a new generation. I can only hope they enjoy them equally as much as the  seekers did. Am sharing your website with others. It's really a wonderful service.



D111: The Dot People
1948-50.  I am certain "The Dot People" is the first book I checked out of a library.  I remember holding it in my hands in a public library in the small town of Cochran, Georgia.  I was 7 or 8. I don't remember the plot but I recall one of the illustrations showing a large crowd of  "dot people." They looked something like red M&M's with arms and legs. I believe they were solid red but could have been a circle. It obviously is not the year 2000 book of the same title listed by the Libray of Congress.  A couple of years ago I had no success with a couple of "lost book" sites mentioned on The Book Guys radio show on NPR.

Norman Juster, The Dot and the Line:  A Romance in Lower Mathematics, 1963.  This isn't the right time period, but some of the rest of it fits, including the dot being red (the colors are black/white/red):  "The book is a mathematical fable, for readers of all ages. It is the anguished story of a straight line who falls in love with a dot. The book the famous Chuck Jones cartoon is based on."
Lieberman, Nina Belle, Polka Dot Tots.  Poetry about the polka-dot tots setting sail one day for the Island of Rub-a-Dub. Sandy and Sue were captain and crew.
The Humpty Dots. Before 1948 Try "The Humpty Dots." It was a children's book with black and red polka-dot characters who they traveled by ocean liner. I've tried without success to locate a copy of this childhood favorite.



D112: dachshund with roller-skate tummy support
Ogdan Nash??  '30's to '50's.  I remember a dachshund whose tummy is supported on a roller skate (the old-fashioned side-by-side wheel kind) and who rides around in an open touring car, I think with someone in a top hat.  I thought it was by Ogdan Nash, but can't find anything he wrote that's remotely similar, though has same sort of playful tone. The book like many children's books was wider than tall, about 11" wide by 7 or 8" tall and perhaps 3/8" thick.

Two dachshunds come to mind: H.A. Rey's Preztel (1944) kept on growing, and used his extra-long charms to win the affection of his girlfriend.  There's also Noodle by Munro Leaf(1937) and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, which is the book size you describe. When Noodle is granted a wish from the good dog fairy to be any size and shape desired, he decides to remain Noodle.    I must admit the top hat reference would make me think of Pretzel, but the size and humor might match Noodle more.
I re-read Pretzel and he never has a roller skate under his tummy or takes a ride in a car. Not the book you're looking for.
D112 Just trying Google and found a reference to a rollerskate but in real life:  Boris was just as much a darling in his own home as abroad, and Line was - one week before the birth - so chubby that a rollerskate below the belly for support would not have come amiss.  BUT then I reread stumper and I know I have that book; I can see the guy on the cover but author & title not coming thru yet; I think they are in script. Book is 8 1/2 by 11 or so; purple border. Prob  Weekly Reader ed. I amy be mixing him up with the New Yorker man in top hat. Ahhh! After 20 min I've got it Tomi Ungerer The hat. Will dig it out in the morning and see.
I doubt it's The Hat...
D112 Can't find the box it's in, so can't prove you right or wrong



D113: Day in the Country
Title may be (A girl's name) Day in the Country. Small, thin, picture book (like a Golden Book, c. 1955) with
colored illustrations and a few lines of narrative. One page was of a girl walking down a country lane. On her left was
a (white? fenced horse paddock with a (brown?) horse in it. There may have been a dog running along with the girl.
Also, I believe the lane went down a hill toward a house.

There are several  Little Golden Book editions (#407, #203-1, #203-31, #304-56) called A Day on the Farm by Nancy
Fielding Hulick, and illustrated by J.P. Miller in 1960.
Yikes, now that I have this in hand, I'm not sure it's the correct solution at all....  Hulick, Nancy Fielding.  A Day on the Farm. Illustrated by John P. Miller.  Golden Press, 1960.  Little Golden Book #407.  Minor wear, but overall VG.  $8



D114: Dog digs to China
Solved: Taka-Chan and I


D115: Down to the Sea
Solved: Paddle-to-the-Sea


D116: Duck Defies North Wind
In a mid 1950's collection of children's short stories and poetry, there was the story of a duck who defied the North Wind. The duck's name was something like Shinglebliss. Poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson was also in the book, and I think a short story version of the Wizard of Oz. I would be much indebted to have a copy.

Sorry I can't solve this - yet - but I do remember a book like this and I think it included a prose version of The Pied Piper and a longish version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Plus a story about Robin Redbreast singing for the king and queen and being given Jenny Wren as a bride. Anyway, the duck's name was Shin-gee-biss (the diver). FYI, in another version of that story from American Indian Fairy Tales (ed. W.T. Larned), he's actually a man who can turn into a duck and while he doesn't use that power, he still defeats Ka-bib-on-okka (the North Wind) with his sense of humor and courage.
Maybe not quite a match, but this is what I remember. Piper, Watty (Editor), Illustrated by George And Doris Hauman. Stories That Never Grow Old.  New York: The Platt & Munk Co., Inc. 1932, 1958. Hard Cover. - over 9¾" - 12" tall. The Ugly Duckling, The Breman Town Musicians, The Fox and the Stork, Why the Bear has a Stumpy Tail, Shingebiss, Five Peas in a Pod, The Marriage of Robin Red Breast and the Wren, The Fox and the Goat, Hansel and Gretel, The Boy Who
Cried "Wolf!", The Boy and the North Wind, How the Finch Got Her Colors, The Pied Piper of Hamlin, Tweeny-Tiny, Billy Goat Gruff, Li'L' Hannibal, The Little Engine that Could, The Lion and the Mouse, Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar, The Old Man, His Son, and the Donkey.
Tasha Tudor, Tasha Tudor's Bedtime BookThis is another suggestion for this stumper: Tasha Tudor's Bedtime Book - it had a gorgeous blue HB cover with illustrations of the stories around the edge. It had the Shingebiss story, as well as Billy Goats Gruff, Owl & Pussycat poem, Country Mouse City Mouse, Muther Hulda, Little Star Dipper, etc. It was my favorite book of stories and the illustrations were beautiful!! Good luck! :-)
This sounds like a story in the Bookhouse books. I only recall the one picture where the mallard? duck is sitting warming his webbed feet; next to him is poor North Wind, who looks like an Indian chief wrapped in silver robes and feathers. The North Wind is clearly unhappy because he's melting, finally jumping into a snowbank. I think it's how the Duck stole fire to give to humans, haven't seen it in years.



D117: dollhouse book
Solved: Big Susan


D118: Definitions, Funny
"There's a crashing bore/behind the door/get a stick/and hit it, quick!"  I remember this as a hardcover book, mid to late 1960's, with a number (maybe 15?)of these definitions.  Another example:  "The [something] lackadaisical's/Talents are amazical/But alas, you'd never know it/'Cause he doesn't care to show it." Each definition came with a funny illustration of the monster/creature (the crashing bore, the lackadaisical...) Perhaps a yellow-ish cover?

I suppose you'll get more specific suggestions than this one, but it sure sounds like Shel Silverstein, late 50's and early 60's.  We used to cut his rhymes about monsters out of Playboy, and put them in frames and hang in the front hall.  All our 'sophisticated' Air Force friends would congregate in the hall when they came over, getting a big kick out of his wit.  I'm now planning to find some of his  early books, where I hope to find those old rhymes, so I can read them to my granddaughter. I love your service!  Don't ever stop!
Jack Prelutsky, It's Raining Pigs and Noodles.This one includes lots of puns and wordplay...
Jack Prelutsky, editor, Imagine That! ...Prelutsky also selected this group of poems about fantasies and 'never-was' [ie, a crocodial in your phone] Perhaps your peoms are among this collection.
D118 Just a thought: Fred Gwynne (yes, Herman Munster) wrote and illustrated a few clever children's books of the style you've described. You may want to check him out.
Shel Silverstein, Don't Bump the Glump. I've also been looking for this book and think the title might be Don't Bump the Glump, which is a collection of the Shel Silverstein cartoons and poems previously published in Playboy magazine.  I recall the book being a small hardback with a dark yellow cover.  Simple line drawings were most of the illustrations.  Good luck!



D119: Donkey
Solved: Flowers for Filbert


D120: Dog gets fancy house and lots of friends
A Dog lives a meager lifestyle but longs to have a bigger house, with luxurious belongings and lots of friends. The pages are beautifully filled with colorful arrays of pillows and items he's acquired.  It soon gets out of control, the dog has everything he wanted, including tons of friends, it starts driving him crazy.   The dog decides that the nice quiet simple lifestyle he had is what he truly wants.  The book has a hard turquoise cover.  The dog may have been an Afghan.

D120 If it's a more recent book, check MRS. DONALD'S DOG BUN AND HIS HOME AWAY FROM HOME by William Maxwell, 1995. ~from a librarian
In case it would be helpful to add this information, I owned the book in the early 1970's and it was probably new then.
Jerry Smath, The Housekeeper's Dog. This may be it--it was a childhood favorite of mine, probably from sometime in the 80's. A housekeeper at a fancy mansion scrapes together the money to send her dog to a fancy school for dogs. The dog becomes snooty and makes lots of snobby friends, inviting them over for a costume party at the mansion while the owners are away. The dog catchers are called and the dog barely gets away back to his owner and decides to lead a simple life from now on. It was a hardcover book in turquoise.



D121: Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Solved: He Went For a Walk


D122: Diabetic boy traveling in the west
My older brother (b. 1955) recalls reading a novel about a boy who traveled around the western United States working at various ranches and farms.  The boy discovered at some point that he had a blood sugar imbalance or was diabetic or something similar.  The story was set in the present day.

Peter Jenkins, A Walk Across America.  The request was for a book about a diabetic boy traveling in the west.  But I think what the searcher is looking for is the story of Peter Jenkins who walked across America and part of the way stayed with a hospitable black family and the sweet mother of this family was a diabetic (or had some sort of blood sugar disorder).  A great adventure story (I think National Geographic covered it also)and the sequel to it was called The Walk West.  I think there were even some more books about Peter's life following the walk.  I remember some scenes like how Peter's dog Cooper protected him (Cooper sadly was killed in an accident during the walk), how much Peter enjoyed worshipping with his black friends at their church, the beauty of the land, the kindness of most of the people he met, etc. 



D123: Dolls - clothespins, children's, 40s
Dolls made out of clothespins live in a doll house.  Black and white illustrations.  As a five-yr old in 1948, I esp. loved the baby clothespin doll in its cradle in the attic.  My mother and I would be astounded with joy to find this little oddity, or share memories of it w. anyone.  thank you.

These probably aren't what you are looking for, but I looked around quite a bit and it's all I could find.  The clothespin dolls : a play for large cast of lower grade children, by Leonora Sill Ashton, 1946, 18 pp.  Another one, The Magic Clothes-Pins by Maude Dutton Lynch, Houghton Mifflin, 1926, orange cloth hardcover, school edition, about 7-8" tall, illustrated by M. A. Benjamin in either pochoir or wood block print style (different booksellers describe it differently).  The only other thing that came up that is even remotely possible is a book from 1887 called With My Pets no author given, from the "Sunny Hour Series."  It is 15 pp. and includes the following:  Playing tea -- My dolly -- The stolen child -- A circus dog -- The clothes-pin family -- A coach-and-four -- The pet pigeons -- The pet donkey -- A lover of birds. Also, the following notes are for "With My Pets" - Cover title./ Printed in sepia./ First and last leaves pasted down to wrappers./ Wood-engraved illustrations with text  full-page chromolithographed illustrations.



D124: Dinosaur getting ready for friends to visit
I have a very warm, but fuzzy, memory of this book.  I think it is about a dinosaur who's getting rady for freinds to come visit, perhaps for a housewarming party.  (There may be a page that shows the dinosaur in the bathtub.)  I think the friends bring gifts.  I can't remember if the friends  are dinosaurs or different animals.  I mostly remember the colors.  Lots of bright yellow and green.  The illustration sytle is similar to Aliki's, but she is not the author or the illustrator.

After thinking about it some more, it's possible that the main character was an alligator not a dinosaur.
Norma Klein, Dinosaur's Housewarming Party.
Bernard Waber.  I wonder if this could be one of the Lyle Crocodile books, particularly Lyle and the Birthday Party?
The colors and visual style sound like Sendak's Alligators All Around, from Nutshell Library. It's actually an alphabet book, but the main character, a little alligator, wears a decorative cap throughout the book (and has balloons on the B page), which may leave the impression there was a party.  No bathtub, though.
Bernard Waber, The House on East 88th Street, 1962.  I believe the book you are thinking of may be this one. There are a couple of pages with Lyle the crocodile in the bathtub. Apparently lazing in the tub is one of his favorite activities. There is also a lot of green in the illustrations.
I just checked in after being away from my computer for bit and saw that my stumper had been solved! Unfortunately, it's not The House on East 88th Street. The book I'm looking for has an illustration style that's closer to Aliki's. Very bright and colorful (lots of bright yellow). Lots of round edges. And the book was almost square shaped, something close to 10 x 10. I think it was published in the 70s. And the main character lives alone. Oh well. The mystery continues. Thanks for trying! I am enjoying your site...
Sharmat, Scarlet Monster Lives Here.  Is it possible that it could be a monster instead of a dinosaur?  This book is a reader in which the monster prepares and prepares, but no one comes to her house to welcome her to the neighborhood.
Norma Klein, A Surprise Party For Dinosaur, 1974, copyright.  The original title was "Dinosaur's Housewarming Party" but was later called "A Surprise Party for Dinosaur".  The friends are Octopus, Green Worm, Marvin (a Beaver) and Sebastian (Duck) and Wanda (Worthog).  Their gifts were a spice set (from Wanda), plant (Worm), a shaggy rug kit (Sebasitan), a poster with the word "Peace" in 5 different languages (Marvin), and a big purple blow-up chair (Octopus)... definitely a 70s book.  I own a copy from my childhood.



D125: Dreidel
Solved: A Chanukah Fable for Christmas

D126: Doll left outside
Solved: The Lost Playground


D127: Dolls in a Deserted House/Shop?
This is a book I read when I was very small (early seventies?).  It involved a group of dolls who lived, I believe, by themselves in an abandoned house or possibly a workshop in a deserted place (a forest?).  I remember the illustrations being muted in tone, such as roses, sepias, and perhaps greens?  Does anyone know what this is?

Martin Waddell, The Hidden House. This may be too late, I'm not sure of the publication date. The three dolls "live"
(it's thier point of view, but they do not walk or talk) in a cottage in a forest that is empty and becoming overgrown. At the end a new family moves in and the house and dolls are cleaned up. The illustrations are muted - browns and greens.
Definitely too new.  I absolutely read this in the seventies...early eighties at the latest, but I'm guessing 1979 or earlier.
Sheila Greenwald, The Secret Museum, 1974. Jennifer is out picking blackberries when she comes upon a small house in a clearing. The door swings open and she discoveres twenty dolls sitting around a table set for tea-- one of the dolls is crying! My paperback copy has no colored pictures.
Rumer Godden, The Story of Holly and Ivy, 1972. The dolls aren't in a forest, but they're left in a workshop at night, talking to each other. The colors seem right, also -- very soft roses and greens.  



D128: Dog pirate digs up treasure
I'm looking for an old 78rpm recording of a children's story about a dog-pirate who forces some other dogs to dig up a buried treasure. The dog pirate looked like a wolf-hound in the picture on the cover.  The hero looked like an English Bulldog.  The dog-pirate had a blunderbus as his weapon.  Can you help me, anyone?

D129: Dragon who likes jum jills
Solved: The Funny Thing

D130: Don't grump at me, I'm grumpy too
The only thing I remember about this children's book is the line, "Don't grump at me, I'm grumpy too."  It's possible that it was said by an owl, but I may be making that part up.

D130 It is NOT Cosgrove's Mr Grumpling [Serendipity series]
D130 Nor is it Conkling's Mr Grumpy and the kitten.



D131: Day the dolls came alive
Solved: The Story of Live Dolls


D132: Doll
Solved: The Most Wonderful Doll in the World


D133: Dark dark
Solved: Beasty Story


D134:  Doll named Henrietta
Solved: Through the Years With Henrietta


D135: Dogs with big eyes/Bedtime story book
Solved: The Tinderbox


D136: Dough boy emerges from oven, lives in little dough house
Solved: Bunchy


D137: Dog who lived like a human
book about a dog who lived alone in a house ...it described his day to day chores and he was just like a human but a dog (book is about 45 years old or more)

Margaret Wise Brown, Mister Dog, 1952.  This sounds like Mister Dog, a Little Golden Book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams.  It's about a dog, Crispin's Crispian, who starts the book living alone in a house.  He eats his breakfast, goes for a walk, comes across a country with lots of dogs and then a country with lots of cats, and finally comes upon a little boy, who also lives by himself.  Mister Dog invites the boy to live with him, and they buy dinner, cook and eat it, and then go to bed.  I think the yard has both a dogwood tree and dog-toothed violets (a/k/a swamp lillies/trout lillies) in the yard, faithfully rendered by Garth Williams.  It's one of many great Brown/Williams collaborations.  (This, obviously, is a short pirture book.  I also recall reading a chapter book about a dog who lives in the human world and works in a clothing store  I don't recall the name, but if this is what the contributor is looking for, I might be able to find it.)
Toby Town.  I found this book in my grandparents' attic 45-50 years ago, and it was old then. It was about a dog that was the mayor of a town of animals. He was taking two children on a tour of the town. I don't remember any more of the plot than that.
This sounds like the book Cuthbert, but he didn't live alone.  Cuthbert was a butler.  My 3rd grade teacher read this to us in 1962.



D138: dragon kite
A marvelous book about a boy who flies a dragon kite. One day the kite magically transforms into a real dragon that takes him off on an amazing adventure. The illustrations were very detailed black and white or very subtle colors. The one I remember clearest was of a huge pearl rising out of.....mud? This was a favorite library book of mine in the early 60's (when I was about 10). When I finally went to get the title and author so I could buy my own copy I was
told it had been sold in their Library Book Sale and there was no record of it. This is not "The Dragon Kite" by Thomas Lewis, "The Dragon Kite" by Nancy Luenn or "Dragon Kite of the Autumn Moon" by Valerie Reddix and Jean Tseng. I don't think it's "Lee Lan Flies the Dragon Kite" by Ralph Hermanns either. The dust jacket was long gone, but I remember a black oriental pattern on a green/turquoise cover, 10" x 12" (?), less than an inch thick. There's something about this book that's been "calling" me for over 30 years now, and I'd REALLY like to find it. Help!

Wright, Mildred Whatley, sky full of dragons, 1969.  Grandfather's magic chest holds dragon kites and other wonderful things from China but not the marbles Lee chow wants so much.
There's an answer listed: Sky Full of Dragons by Mildred Whatley Wright. I don't think that's it either. The description doesn't sound like the book I'm looking for, and the year (1969) is later. Sigh. Thanks anyway.
Beaton-Jones, Cynon, illustrator John Ward, The Adventures of So Hi.  London, Barrie 1951.  Not a complete match, but worth checking out. "An unusual story about the little Chinese boy So Hi who unexpectedly sails away on his horsehair kite string into strange and far-off adventures. In the norhtland he meets Dripoff the dragon who is delighted to find a friend and stops sobbing out his loneliness in time to save So Hi from a polar bear. In succeeding episodes he saves him again and also the singing fish stolen from the emperor'\''s garde by the wicked Sirdar of Smirk. A variety of characters are cleverly invented  only the cherry blossom fairy, who appears on the scene to help out on a few occasions, is a contrived creation." (Horn Book Dec/56 p.445) The US edition is 1956, bound in yellow cloth, and the UK edition is dark blue - though the binding remembered may be a library rebind. 



D139: Daughter cares for ill father who dies
Solved: Candle in the Sun


D140: Daniel Boone and Simon Girty
Solved: Daniel Boone: The Opening of the West

D141: Day at the Circus
Solved: Circus Time


D142: Department Store Certificate Goes Awry
Solved: Wonderful World of Aunt Tuddy


D143: Draw a Line
Children's book about a boy with a pencil.  Not Harold and the Purple Crayon. Pre-1975.

There's a book by Leonard Kessler called I Made a Line.  Wonder Books, 1962.  VG-.  $10
Catherine Storr, The Magic Drawing Pencil,  1958.  Another possibility is Ole Kierkegaard: Otto is a Rhino (translated by Joan Tate)  c. 1972
Could this be The Secret Pencil, by Patricia Ward?
There were several "Harold" books. I had one called "A Picture for Harold's Room".


2004


D144: Damask Rose
Solved: The Treasure is the Rose


D145: Doll falls in Jelly Jar
Solved: Sugarplum


D146: dolls come to life
Solved: The Story of Live Dolls

D147: Dandelion Cottage
Solved: Dandelion Cottage


D148: dolls of different nationalities
Solved: The Surprise Doll


D149: Diary
An average size hardcover (I believe mine was a pale orange) 1960s children's book that followed the members of a family through the seasons with small pen and ink illustrations scattered throughout.  Simple stories of raking leaves, trick-or-treating, etc.

D149 I'm thinking it might be one of Joan Walsh Anglund's.  Spring is a new beginning,  1963. A child's year is a Little Golden which doesn't seem to match. A year is round, 1966. This seems too much linked with  the signs of the zodiac.
For more on Anglund, see Most Requested Books.



D150: desk, antique in a mystery
Solved: Secret of the Old Salem Desk


D151: Disappearing and re-appearing lake
Solved: The Lost Pond


D152: dress made of green leaves
I owned a children's story book in the early to mid 1960s with coloured pictures. I do not recall the title or storyline but although it had to do with the fairy world. I have a vague recollection of two children coming across a queen-like figure in a forest surrounded by smaller creatures, possibly elves, fairies etc.  The picture that has remained inprinted on my memory is that of the tall and beautiful queen-like figure dressed in a long gown made entirely of green leaves from the forest (possibly from a maple or oak tree). I have never seen another story book figure wearing such an outfit since that time. It is possible that the author of the book was English.

There might be others, but the one that comes to mind is Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, and illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett, Viking, 1946.  For more information, pictures, and copies for sale, please visit the Most Requested pages.
Thank you for your response. Although Miss Hickory is a lovely story, it is not the solution to my stumper. I wonder if you or some of your readers might have further clues?
Again, sorry to disagree with you, but Miss Hickory was not tall and queen like and there were no fairies or elves surrounding her.
Francis, Mary, The Magic Key, illustrated by Sylvia Holland.  NY: Jolly Books 1952.  Could it be this one? It features two children, in the woods, and they do meet the Queen of the fairies, who is with others of the fairy folk. It is illustrated with colour pictures - cover can be seen on the Solved Pages. I don't know how the Queen is dressed, but perhaps the cover might bring back memories?
Thank you for your suggestions so far. I have looked at the cover of the Magic Key but did not immediately recognise it. Having said that, I am trying to locate a copy to see if it is indeed the book I have been after.
Louisa May Alcott, Flower Fables.  December 9th, 1854.  This Lousia May Alcott book is all about fairies and different fairy queens.  There are ten different stories, so not sure if one of these is your story or not, but you might want to check it out at this web site.  Hope this helps!
Thank you for your suggestion but I am certain this lead is not correct. I am still pursuing a copy of the Magic Key as I feel this is closer to the answer.
The person looking for the book in D152 may be looking for A day in fairy land, which is posted in your solved mysteries under "D."  There is a young girl in a skirt made of green leaves, playing a violin or some such instrument and sitting with her toe in the water at the end of the book.  The fairy queen is in the book with two small hand maidens brushing her hair.  There are elves gathering flowers in that same picture.  This book is from 1949, imported from Sweden.  I wrote earlier to tell you that my uncle sold these Swedish books in the U.S.A. in 1949.  At one time, his company was the largest hat and handbag manufacturer in the United States.



D153: davy and the little red scarf
Solved: Davy Deer's New Red Scarf


D154: dentist evil popup book
My grandmother had a book in the 1980's (although the book was from maybe the 60's or 70's) about an evil dentist.  I think it was a popup book, but I'm not positive.  This evil dentist tried to get kids to eat sweets so he could drill their teeth.  I think he ends up behind bars.  In my mind, the dentist looks like one of those old villians with curly mustaches.

D155: Dollhouse, shrinking, girl named Melinda
Solved: The Mysterious Shrinking House


D156: Doll, House, Waiting, Clothing, Photography
I'm looking for information on a book I read in the Third Grade (1980s) but that I'm sure comes from the Late '50s, '60s, or possibly '70s. The book was about a doll, with a name possibly precluded by Miss, who is either lonely or waiting for someone to return. Meanwhile, she has tea parties, changes her clothes, and talks about herself. The pictures were black and white photographs of an actual doll, possibly porcelain, dressed in Victorian-type outfits. She may have lived in a dollhouse or attic of a country house. I've looked at stories like Miss Hitty, the Lonely Doll, and some others, but nothing seems to match this book. It was a children's picture book, large-sized, maybe twenty pages in length?

The details don't all match, but are you sure you're not thinking of Dare Wright's books about the doll Edith and the two teddy bears who come to be her friends?  They are illustrated with black and white photos, and one of them shows Edith having her breakfast with china dishes (before the bears arrive) and looking very lonely.
Oops--I missed the poster's comment that she had already looked at The Lonely Doll.  Sorry! Living in the attic reminds me of Miss Suzy, but she was a squirrel, not a doll.  And no photos there.
How about Miss Hickory?  She was definitely a doll waiting for someone to return. I've never seen it illustrated with photos, though.
The original stumper refers to "Miss Hitty," which sounds like a conflagration of titles.  I think Hitty: Her First Hundred Years has more potential than Miss Hickory...
BECKY LOU IN GRANDMOTHER'S DAY
Patsy Ann Her Happy Times.
Possibly this is the book. Thanks for this website. Below is more info taken from the website PatsyAnn.net. There is a photo of the cover of the book on the website. From the website: Patsy Ann even had her own book. Patsy Ann, Her Happy Times was published in 1936 by Rand McNally. Written by Mona Reed King, it chronicled a year in Patsy Ann’s life using charming black and white photographs by G. Allan King. Old copies of the book are sought after by collectors of Patsy family memorabilia.



D157: Destitute Family
I'm looking for a book that my 26 year old daughter read as a pre-teen.  It was historical fiction (very descriptive/informative), about a girl whose family was destitute (my daughter specifically remembers this word), whose father was being treated at St. Vincent's Hospital on Barnes Road in Portland, Oregon.  I'm thinking time period was pre-car, don't remember any mother, dad with an injured leg (work accident?), think there might have been siblings.  Anyway, I'm now working at this hospital and no one has ever heard about this book.

Vera & Bill Cleaver, Where the Lilies Bloom
I don't think the description matches Where the Lilies Bloom.  That was set somewhere in Appalachia, I think, and I don't recall the father being in the hospital--in fact, that was key to the plot of the story, that he died at home and his children kept his death a secret for a long time.  The Appalachian family in Where the Lillies Bloom is certainly destitute, but the dad
never goes to a hospital he dies at home.  I can't help with the title, but it is NOT Where the Lilies Bloom, which takes place in Trial Valley in North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains.
Cleary, Beverly, Ramona and Her Father, 1977.  With that specific a setting, it almost has to be an Oregon author, and by far the likeliest is Beverly Cleary  the bibliographic description of the book mentions that Ramona's father loses his job but
doesn't indicate an injury.  (The other two authors to investigate, should Cleary not be right, would be Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Evelyn Sibley Lampman, but I can't think of a book by either that fits the parameters.)  That said, some of the details in the stumper description don't match up -- St. Vincent's Hospital did not move to its present Barnes Road location until well after 1960 (it was previously, if I remember correctly, located roughly above and behind the Uptown Shopping Center north of Burnside), so a "pre-car" story couldn't have been set in the present facility.
Definitely not Ramona and her Father.



D158: Defiant young girl
Solved: A Very Private Life


D159: Dusty notebook
Solved: The Secret Hide Out


D160: Dollhouse Book
Solved: The Paper Doll Playhouse: Full of Fun for a Nice Girl


D161: Day the Circus Parade
I am looking for a 1950's book. Possible to be Wonder or Rand McNally. The story is of a parade (circus or celebration). A little boy takes his dog to see this. The dog's hair is too long and the boy ties it up so the dog can see the parade. I remember seeing bands in the parade, but not neccesarily a circus.

D162: Dog and Cat picnic
Solved: Let's go to the Park


D163: Doctor in appalachia falls in love and loses wife in childbirth
James might be the author's name or the character's name.  Also, a K in the author's name, perhaps?  The main character, a doctor, I think, didn't want to be in appalachia for some reason, but he falls in love with the daughter of the family he's staying with.  They marry and then she dies in childbirth.  I read this book when I was in 6th or 7th grade, around 1979 or 1980, but it was older than that.  It was in my middle school library, so it must have been a juvenile book.  I just remember the last scene so vividly, when he goes into the room where she's just delivered their child and the sheets are covered in blood and she's so pale.

Could be Katherine Marshall, Christie, late 1960's.  The story related in the inquiry sounds like the Scottish Doctor's story in Christie... I think his name was David ...
No, it's not Christy by Catherine Marshall - the end of the book has David holding Chrisy's hand while she's unconscious, and when she opens her eyes, he says "Christy!"  joyously - she does NOT die at the end.
I believe the first poster was referring to the doctor character's first wife, who did indeed die in childbirth, in Christy by Catherine Marshall, not to the character of Christy herself.



D164: Dragon Kingdom
Solved: Shield of Three Lions


D165: Donkey with cold ears
Solved: That Donkey

2005


D166: Dolls from every country
Solved: The Surprise Doll


D167: Dollhouse with Dandroo/Dandoo
Solved: Among the Dolls

D168: Doctor searching for lover
Solved: Tell No One


D169: Dog renamed Tricks
Solved: Here, Tricks, Here


D170: doll lost in garden
late 1960s - mid 1970s...  A little girl leaves her doll in the garden. She watches through the window as the seasons change from fall to winter to spring, insisting that the doll is there. Eventually, spring comes and she does find the doll in the garden.

D170 Could it be this?  McGinley, Phyllis. The most wonderful doll in the world. illus by Helen Stone. Lippincott, 1950.
Dulcy brags excessively about her doll, Angela, until she faces the truth when a friend is present as she finds the now-lost doll under wet leaves in the wood; imagination; dreams, growing up; Caldecott Honor Book. 



D171: Dog forced to leave home
This one was a short picture book about a young girl who (I think) had to give up the dog she loved because they were too poor. The dog spends years away from home -- I remember at one point he's with a man who mistreats him, and the phrase "Man's best friend" is ironically in the picture. In the end the dog is happily reunited with the girl (now older and no longer poor), but he's too old to play with her like he used to. A boat might be involved with the ending. I had it as a child in the early 1970s, and even as a four-year old I can remember thinking, "What a sad story for a kid's book!" It's not "Hurry Home Candy" since that one's not mostly pictures, even though the story seems similar.

I'm sorry, I don't have the answer, but I was so excited to see someone else searching for this book.  I remember all of the details you wrote about (except the man's best friend part), and I believe it does end with the dog on a boat.  I've looked EVERYWHERE. for some reason this book made a real impression on me.



D172: Desert Boy, Arabian desert, camels
I'm not what the title was. I repeatedly checked it out of the library in the 1950s.  A boy lived in the desert, rode camels. But there was some sort of tragedy. Perhaps he became lost. He may have been a European boy, but could have been a boy from one of the desert lands. Maybe it was Africa, but I think it was Arabia, or perhaps he was a Bedouin.

Harry W. French, The Lance of Kanana, 1892.  This could be it.  Kanana is a boy in Arabia who has to prove himself to his tribe.  Its in The Junior Classics (1958) Vol. 8 Stories From History.  But the acknowledgements say it was originally published as an individual book in the 1890s and again in the 1920s.
Walter Farley, The Black Stallion Returns, 1945.  You don't mention a horse, but it could be this sequel to The Black Stallion.  From a card catalogue description:  "After the Black is claimed by its rightful owner, a great desert chieftain from across the sea, Alec crosses the desert amid many dangers in search of the stallion."  The American boy, Alec Ramsey,  is in a race and eventually rides the horse across the desert to freedom.
How about  Big  Tiger and Christian by Fritz Muhlenweg-1952. Adventures of two boys, one English and one Chinese, in the Gobi desert while on a mission for a general.
W.H. Canaway, A Boy Ten Feet Tall (1961 approximate) Also published as "Sammy Going South" and "Find The Boy". A 10-year-old orphan boy travels 5000 miles from Egypt to South Africa to locate his Aunt.  He eventually links up with a crafty old hunter/diamond smuggler. When the police search for the orpan boy, they arrest the old man, who has been a fugitive for years. When the orphan boy is finally united with his Aunt, he learns that the old smuggler has willed him his fortune.



D173 :  Demons on strike
I'm looking for the title of the story, and any anthologies that contain it.  Within the past 17 years, I found this story, originally read long before, at my local library. The general idea is what happens on the day that Hell freezes over.  I think the beginning has an engineer dropping his toast at breakfast, and it lands jelly side UP!  Similar unusual happenings occur throughout the day.  A former US president goes on TV and confesses all (an obvious reference to Watergate - the story appeared long before Bill Clinton was a national name).  The reason for all these unusual happenings is that "Murphy's Demons" are on strike for higher pay.  They have stopped stoking the fires of Hell, and it's getting might cold down there.

Phil Bertoni, Abandon all Heat, Ye Who Enter Here, 1976.  This story appeared in the Sept 76 issue of Galaxy.  (It's Maxwell's demons that were on strike.)
This is tantalizing.  I remember this story quite well.  I remember reading it in an anthology of the best short stories of a particular author---but I can't get his name.  Most of his stories were more clearly science fiction.  Another story from the same collection ( I think) was about a man whose job it was to decide which products of an ostensibly friendly but somehow untrustworthy alien race could be safely imported to earth.  One year their offerings were entirely toys, and each one  seemed to have a sinister aspect. The only exception was a low-tech and bland-seeming monopoly like game.  Playing it with his kids, the product reviewer found that they were bizarrely enthusiastic about it despite the fact that he was able to beat them handily and that to him the game was so tedious he could barely concentrate on it.  He went ahead and approved its importation.  It was only after it had become a runaway best seller that he learned that he had misunderstood the rules.  The object of the game was to lose.
Can't remember the story, but a hint -- I'm pretty sure the demons on strike would be "Maxwell's Demons" rather than "Murphy's Demons."  The mythical "Maxwell's Demon" is a common figure in physics questions governing chance and odds  see this website for instance
Ben Bova has an sf story collection calledMAXWELL'S DEMONS, but I don't think anything in that matches the plot described.



D174: Disfigured Doctor
Solved: A Horse Called Mystery


D175:Dragon Cornwall King Arthur
Solved: Green Smoke


D176: Disney's Illustrated...
Solved: The Giant Walt Disney Word Book


D177: Diving treasure
Book about a girl who free dives and finds a treasure (gold doubloons I think).  Works at the diving with her father or uncle.  Also there are sharks in the water where she is diving.  I read an excerpt of this book in 1986 in the 7th grade reading textbook.  Would like to find and read the whole book.

Peter Benchley, The Girl From (of?) the Sea of Cortez.  The girl in the story went diving with her father, who died. She has encounters with a whale shark and a manta ray.She finds pearls, though, not gold. Worth a look?
I am the original poster and wanted to thank you for the suggestion but the book I am looking for is not The Girl of the Sea of Cortez by Peter Benchley, I picked it up and read it and it was entertaining but not what I am looking for.  I have also checked Alexandra and The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell and neither of these are what I am looking for either.  Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.



D178: Dog likes to Dig
Solved: The Digging-est Dog


D179: Dunes, seashore, scary old house
Solved: Mystery of Hurricane Castle


D180: Diary
I am looking for a book which I used to read in the 1980's when I was in middle school.  It was written like a diary, and it was about a girl who was a bit overweight and then worked through diet and exercise to lose the weight.  She was wanting to catch the attention of her next door neighbor. After she lost the weight, she became popular, and a bit wild, culminating in a car accident, which she was injured, but came out okay.  I would love it if you could find this book!

Was looking at D180, "Diary" a recent stumper. I know this book, but of course, not the title.   If it helps you any, the cover of the book looks like white notebook paper with blue lines. The title of the book is red. And on the cover is a drawing of the main character, writing in her diary. I had thought her name was Gertrude, but my search brought no results. I thought the title might be Gertrude, Her Private Diary, or something.
Hooker, Ruth, Gertrude Kloppenberg (Private), 1970.  Main character sounds a little young for the original description.  "A lonely little girl keeps a diary in which she records her search for a "true blue friend."
D180 The clue posted by someone else probably is GERTRUDE KLOPPENBERG (PRIVATE) by Ruth Hooker, illustrated by Gloria Kamen, (and there's a sequel), but I can't confirm whether this is the answer to the original stumper~from a librarian
Hooker Ruth, Gertrude Kloppenberg (private), 1970.  Nashville, Abingdon Press [1970]A lonely little girl keeps a diary in which she records her search for a "true blue friend."  This may be the book that the previous poster is referring too - not sure if it is what the original stumper is looking for though.
Thanks for the responses, but this is not the book. There were no illustrations, and it was about a girl who was more looking for a boyfriend, and she was in high school.  I also remember there was a whole part about her working with the school gym teacher to exercise and her diet.
I'm sorry to disappoint all of you, but this is absolutely NOT Gertrude Kloppenburg (Private).  I've recently read this book and its sequel, and the stumper requester's description does NOT fit either book---Gertrude never tries to lose weight or attract a neighbor's attention, and she never behaves wildly or gets hurt in a car accident.  For a complete synopsis of the first book, please see the "Solved Mysteries" G page.  The sequel is a disappointing series of unrelated episodes where Gertrude: is attacked by two mean boys and rescued by the oldest Murphy brothers  teaches one of the youngest Murphy boys to read visits Carl and Mrs. Blonski takes swimming lessons signs up for her local library's summer reading program  and goes camping with Sandra's family.  I'm sorry to say that this particular mystery is still unsolved!
Isabelle Holland, Heads You Win, Tales I Lose, 1973.  Not sure, but this is close: a girl named Melissa Hammond wants to lose weight and get Teddy to notice her but in this case she steals her mom's diet pills.... i read this or something like it and there is also a drama teacher involved who says that the girl's face has interesting contours after she loses weight.  Could be the one or just a similar eating disorder story, but worth a try.
"The Year Of Janie's Diary" by Donna Balcombe.  The book is written like a diary.  14-year-old Janie is overweight but loses weight and becomes popular, then is in an auto accident.



D181: Doll Book 1950's-60's
Solved:  Ukelele and Her Doll


D182: Dolls people a Victorian House
Victorian dolls live in a Victorian House and act like people.  The story was about people (not dolls) who lived in a Victorian house but the colored photos (not drawings) showed dolls living in the house.  There was photo of each room in the house with one or more dolls in it. The dolls had porcelain heads and glass eyes and were dressed in Victorian clothing.   I think one of them had a bow in her hair.  I remember a doll cooking on a black cast iron stove in the kitchen and dolls sitting at old-fashioned wooden school desks with fancy wrought iron sides in a make-shift school in the attic.  I borrowed this book from my school library in 1969 but I suspect it was older than that as the library did not have many new books. The dolls in the book I want looked like the dolls and are in similar settings as the dolls in the book "Dolls:  Portraits from the Golden Age" photographs by Tom Kelly and text by Pamela Sher.  However, the book I read was a story and not a book about collecting dolls. Moreover, it was earlier than this 1992 book.  See for example #49 on page 88 of that Kelly/Sher book, which shows two Victorian dolls cooking on a cast iron stove, and #55 on page 99 of that book, which shows a dolls with a cast iron stove in the background. The book is NOT The Dolls' House by Rumer Godden.  Thank you so much.

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Rackety Packety House.  This probably isn't the book you're looking for, but I thought I'd suggest it anyway. It's a charming book about a family of china headed dollhouse dolls who have survived several generations in the same family. Trouble comes when one of the descendants of the original owner is given a brand new dolls' house complete with dolls.
Craig, Hazel and Sam, Becky Lou in Grandmother's Days.  Denison, 1961.  Could it be this one, from the Solved pages? Or else Days in a Doll's Life, mentioned in the same listing. Both have photographs of dolls doing everyday things.
I obtained a copy of Becky Lou in Grandmother's Days.  It is not the book I was looking for, but it is a charming book.  Thanks for the suggestion.



D183: Dandelion magic
Solved: The Magic Meadow


D184: Dollhouse in the attic
Solved:  Racketty Packetty House


D185: DUCKY
I have been searching for a storybook I had in the late 50's.  I only remember the page that pictures Ducky at bath time.  The  very colorful scene shows Ducky in a metal wash tub on a table in their home and is mother standing by, smiling, armed with towel and soap.  It is not "Mrs. Duck's Lovely Day" or "Duck and his Friends".


D186: Dick and Jane-esque
OK, I have this vague recollection of a children's book.  It either WAS a Dick & Jane book or it was LIKE a Dick & Jane book (the words were the same type font and size as D & J).  It was a collection of stories and one of the stories had a black umbrella that talked and I want to say I remember it talking to a hat and a chair and other things in the house - talking about playing and having fun.  There were other stories, too - but I can't remember them.  This has been driving me CRAZY and I have searched on Google for everything I can possibly think of.  I had this book in the 70's but I want to say it was an older book....but it could have been new...I just can't remember.

I think this sounds a lot like Stumper U29.  Both have unbrellas, which seems unusual.
Not sure of the title.  This could be a Dick and Jane story where Sally walks around under a big black umbrella.  An internet search for "Dick and Jane" and "umbrella" brings up some Dick and Jane magnets for sale.  The magnet picture of Dick and Jane pulling up a delighted Sally's umbrella may ring a bell for you.  This site has a more recent version for sale.
There was definitely a Dick and Jane story about Sally walking under a black umbrella and talking (unseen), fooling Dick and Jane.  At the end, the 2 older children exclaim, "Funny, funny Sally!" The umbrella itself does not talk!  The story was in one of the first-grade readers, maybe ON WE GO.



D187: Deseret
Solved: My Picture Book of Songs

D188: Dressmaker for a princess
Solved: Seamstress of Salzburg


D189: Dumpling seller
Solved: Floating Market


D190: Dognapped!
Solved: Something Queer is Going On


D191: disobedient kitten
Solved: No Kiss for Mother


D192: Depression girl's adventures
Solved: Honestly, Katie John!


D193:  dog meets boy
Solved: Mister Dog


D194: Dark lipstick, WWII, young adult
Solved: Practically Seventeen


D195: Ducks babysit egg, weasels create mischief
Solved: Magoose's Grocery


D196: Deep dark monsters
Deep dark and there are some monsters or creatures that live there but I can't remember their names

Diane Redfield Massie, The Monstrous Glisson Glop, 1970.  This is a shot in the dark (Ha!), but could this book be The Monstrous Glisson Glop (Parent's Magazine Press)? Synopsis: The Glisson Glop's favorite diet was lantern fish and electric eels, but after eating them all he discovered he was afraid of the dark. (I believe his habitat is referred to as the "deep dark".)



D197: Dreams Lost and Found
Solved: The Lost Dream


D198: Doll shovels spilled macaroni into suitcase
Solved: More Adventures of Susan & Spotty


D199: dream ponies
Book about a boy who dreamed about pastel ponies/horses. Very mystical, melancholy tone.

Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Season of Ponies.  Doubtful match but I thought I'd mention it.  This has a girl dreaming of pastel ponies but they turn out to be real.  There's a boy in the book that appears with the ponies and befriends the girl.
ward, Lynd, The silver pony : a story in pictures, 1973.  Could this be it - the pictures are all soft black and white - very memorable and evocative
Susan Jeffers, illustrator, All the Pretty Little Horses.  This may not be it, because the child is a little girl, but some details sound similar. It's a gentle, dreamy, pastel illustration of the folk song, "Hushabye, don't you cry, go to sleep little lady. When you wake you shall have all the pretty little horses."



D200: dog, tiny
I read this children's book either in late 60's or early 70's, and it's about a tiny dog (I think magic) that a little kid a boy I think carries him in his pocket, I almost positive the tiny dog's name was Tinker Bell, at the beginning of the book the kid is in a store & I think he finds the tiny dog & puts in his pocket, it such a great book, hope you can find it!

There's a tiny dog in Betty Brock's No Flying in the House, featuring a girl named Annabelle....  but it doesn't sound like a match.  Just in case your details are distorted with time, check out The Most Requested page.
Pearce, Phillipa, A Dog so small, 1962.  Again. not all the details match.  Ben's dog is called Chiquita. For months, Ben Blewitt has been thinking about dogs. Alsatians, great danes, mastiffs, bloodhounds, so imagine his disappointment when for his birthday, Ben receives not a dog but a picture of a dog. Ben's imagination soon gets to work, though, and that's when his strange adventures begin.
A Dog So Small, Philippa Pearce, 1962.  Probably not this one, but...Ben's grandfather promises a dog for Ben's birthday, but Ben is given a foolish woolwork picture of a small dog. He thinks: what about a dog so small you could see it only with your eyes shut? He calls the dog Chiquitito, and there is also a real dog in the story called Tilly.
Madalene Otteson, Big Dog Tiny, 1952.  I think this might be the book. I have a copy, but it's stored at my parents' house and I haven't had a chance to look for it, so I can't be positive. I remember the front cover has an illustration of a boy looking down at a little white dog that he's tucked in his shirt pocket.
There's a book I remember about a boy who gets a real dog but it is tiny and not the big bruiser he wanted, so he tries to lose it in the park, then feels bad and has to try to find it.  Is this the one by Philippa Pearce?
Big Dog Tiny  by Madelene Otteson; I think this could be the book I want.  I want to make sure this is the book, it sounds more like it than any of the others mentioned, but I was thinking the dog was magic or could be invisible.



D201: Dog lives in town with other dogs
this is an old children's chapter book.  The story involves a dog who lives in a town populated by other dogs.  The book describes various trials and tribulations that he undergoes, including getting brawls with criminal dogs.  I believe that he is unjustly thrown in prison at some point.  The currency in this town is "meaty bones" and a significant portion of the story (the way I remember it) involves trying to raise sufficient funds to achieve one end or another.

D202: Dolls come alive
I am trying to find the title and author of an antique book I read as a child.  It was possibly even from the 30s or 40s.  It was about a little girl who had dolls that came to life when she wasn't around.  There was a doll hospital which was always a scary place for the dolls, and a black "aunt jemima" type doll. The book was red, hardbound of course, geared probably towards a 12 year old reading level.  Thanks!

D202 Could this be Story of the live dolls? It is reprinted in the  Better Homes and Gardens Story Book.
Josephine Scribner Gates, The Story of Live Dolls, 1901.  Gates wrote a whole series of stories about the Live dolls of Cloverdale who came alive.  Dinah was the black mammy doll and there certainly was a doll hospital.  I'm just not sure if it's mentioned in the first book or in one of the later books.  It was reprinted a lot and at least one edition is definitely with a red cover.  I just have my copies packed away so I can't dig out to confirm more details.
Could this be The Story of Live Dolls, by Josephine Scribner Gates? It was published in around 1900 or 1901, I think, and I'm pretty sure there are editions that have been published since then. I first read it in the 60's. The dolls come to life, there is a doll hospital, and the black "aunt jemima" type doll I think was named Dinah.
Rumer Godden.  could be one of Rumer Godden's numerous books about dolls that can think and talk (but not move), while the little girls who own them are unaware of this. there is a sour "aunt jemima" type doll in one of them, I think from the west indies.



D203: Dark magic types
about a boy who was fighting against some dark magic types.  i remember that a red pegasus sign figured prominently in the story and there was a part where someone put quarters over his eyes to make him unable to move or something like that.

Piers Anthony, On a Pale Horse.  This books sounds a little reminiscent of On a Pale Horse the first one of the Intimations of Immortality by Piers Anthony.  Particularly the coins on the eyes.  I don't recall anything specific about the red pegasus, but it's been years since I read it.
Bellairs, John, The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring, 1976.  This is one of the books in Bellairs' Lewis Barnavelt series, that began with A House With a Clock in Its Walls. At one point the heroine, Rita Rose Pottinger, tries to make a drawing of a winged horse, but her only reference is the red Mobil gas logo. The villain places her under a sleeping spell by placing coins over her eyes.
(1970's or early 80's, approximate) "The Letter, the Witch and the Ring" sounded promising, but I leafed through a copy and nothing rang a bell.  The era is correct--I read it in the late 70's or early 80's.  It seems like the main character was a boy and I think that the person who put the coins over his eyes was a lady whose house he was sneaking around in looking for clues.  It even seems like she had changed herself into a Pekinese dog so he wouldn't notice her until she changed back.



D204: Dome - Miniature Creatures or People
I remember reading and loving this book somewhere in the late 70's or early 80's for a  school report or project. It was about a race of either animal-type creatures or possibly miniature people that lived in a society. They didn't realize they were small - they were just normal compared to what they knew. One of the creatures/people goes on a quest and goes as far as he can in one direction and discovers that they are actually living under a dome and it's some sort of experiment of some kind. I can't remember what happened after that - he may have escaped or maybe he went back to his home and told others. I remember loving this book, but I have never been able to find any information about it. I have a vague feeling that it may have started with an "F" but that has never helped in my search and could be wrong. I do know that the book is not "Ferngully" or one of the "Redwall" series. Thanks for any help - sorry I can't remember more!

H. M. Hoover, This Time Of Darkness, 1980.  H. M. Hoover wrote a book called This Time Of Darkness, about two children - Amy and Axel - who live in an underground city (but they don't realize it's underground).  Axel actually came from the outside world.  He convinces Amy to journey to the 'end of the city' with him, to see if he can get back outside again.  They discover the city is under a dome and under the earth.  The people below are kept - literally - in the dark by the ones living in the upper levels.  The outside world has been devastated by an earlier war or holocaust, and the belief is that it's still uninhabitable.  Axel and Amy escape to the outside and eventually find their way back to Axel's home.
james blish, surface tension This sounds alot like the James Blish SF story "Surface Tension", in which some people have been modified to live in miniature form, in an aquatic environment. They have no idea that they are tiny, they just look normal to one another,and they do live as a society. One of the main characters does go on a quest to find out more about the aquatic "universe" in which they live. At some point in the story the character on the quest breaks through the surface of the water. The story was originally written in 1952, but has been reprinted many times since then, so could easily have been read for a school project during the 70's or 80s. I've seen it described as both a "novelette" and a short story.
Thanks for your suggestions! Amazingly enough, I just read This Time of Darkness last week because I found it mentioned on your site under another "Dome" listing. Unfortunately, that is not the book I am searching for. (But it was an interesting read!) As to the other suggestion, Surface Tension, I really don't recall the creatures being in an aquatic environment, but I could have forgotten that part - I will check into it and update this board when I know for sure. In general, I have a strong feeling that they were creatures rather than tiny humans, but again, it was a long time ago. Thanks again for your suggestions - this book has been driving me crazy! :-)



D205: Dragon is killed by boy on bicycle horse
A picture book with scary, realistic color illustrations. A boy is traveling on a bicycle (possibly a birthday present) that is transformed into a white horse. He arrives at one town where people are good and kind to him, then at another where people are ugly and unkind, perhaps because they live in the shadow of the dragon's mountain. On his journey he receives (three?) magical gifts, among other things a feather (given by a bird woman) that creates a cloud of down that extinguishes the dragon's fire and something that creates a cloud of soot that blinds the dragon. In the end, the dragon transforms into a small, dried, dead lizard that is carried away by an eagle.  I read this in the 70s or early 80s. It was written in Swedish, but I'm pretty sure that it was translated from another language.

Diana Wynne jones, The Power of Three (1976) A long shot, but there are some similarities. About three siblings who are trying to lift a curse on their people or family (can't remember which). The three siblings are People of the Moor and their enemies are creatures called the Dorigs. There are also giants (who turn out ot be humans). The Dorigs live underground while the People of the Moor live above ground. I don't remember anything else about the book, it's been a while since I've read it.
This doesn't sound at all like 'The Power of Three', sadly. 'The Power of Three' does not feature dragons and bicycles, particularly. NB The 'three' in the title are not siblings, but members of different species or races inhabiting the same area.
Please see Stumper 278.



D206: Death By Chocolate and Tonsillitis
The book I'm looking for was a novel aimed at pre-teens/young teenagers written anywhere from the mid-80s to early 90s, from my best guess. I can't remember the central plot, but there is a part of the story in which the main character (a girl, either around 11 or 12 or in her early teens) has her tonsils removed and while in the hospital, she is sick of eating nothing but ice cream to heal her post-operation throat. She meets a girl whose father (or parents?) runs a catering service or restaurant. The girl offers her a dessert called "Death By Chocolate" to eat instead of ice cream and the protagonist gladly accepts. I know this isn't much to go on, but if anyone can help me out here, that would be great, since this has been driving me crazy for ages!

D207: Dolls
Solved: Merry, Rose, and Christmas Tree June

2006


D208: Dutch refugee finds friends in NYC
Solved: The Hidden Garden


D209: Dolls living in dollhouse
I used to check this book out of the Bookmobile constantly when I was a kid in the 70s. I believe it was written in the 60s or 70s. It's about a mismatched group of dolls that live in a dollhouse. I remember one of the dolls was very bossy, maybe a Victorian doll...and I think there was a homely wooden doll, too. And that's absolutely all I can remember. It's not Rumer Godden's The Doll's House, I know that for sure.

Martha Bacon, Moth Manor, 1978.  This one has a bossy Victorian doll and a wooden soldier doll, too.
Helen Clare, Five dolls in a house.  Helen Clare (British author) wrote a series of books about five dolls in a dollhouse sometime in the '60's.  I think they all start with the title "Five dolls..."  I seem to remember that both the bossy doll and the wooden doll were two of those dolls.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson, Racketty-Packetty House, 1907.  I have a very old edition of this, but it was reprinted as recently as 2002. It's the story of two dollhouses - one that the little girl has had for years, filled with old raggedy dolls, and one that is brand-new. The dolls from the new dollhouse won't associate with the old dolls from the "Racketty-Packetty House". The subtitle is "as told by Queen Crosspatch". Hope this helps!
Helen Clare, Five Dolls in a House If the original stumper remembers a badly behaved monkey living in the dolls house, this is definitely the Five Dolls series.
I recently read Five Dolls in a House by Helen Clare (the pseudonym of English author Pauline Clarke).  Elizabeth's dolls are Vanessa, Lupin, Jane, Amanda and Jacqueline.  Vanessa is red-cheeked and quite bossy, and although she once belonged to Elizabeths grandmother, she is never described as a Victorian doll.  Amanda has wooden feet, but the author never mentions what the rest of her body is made of.  Lupin is made of cotton waste, Jane has leather feet, and Jacqueline is a French doll with an exquisite wardrobe.  The American version of Five Dolls in a House was illustrated by Aliki Brandenburg. It was followed by at least four sequels: Five Dolls in the Snow,  Five Dolls and Their Friends,  Five Dolls and the Duke, and Five Dolls and the Monkey.



D210: Dinky Dog
Book about a dog named dinky.  I think the book may be a Parents Magazine Press book.  It was out sometime in the mid-70s.  You had to find Dinky hiding in the illustrations.  The main phrase I remember from the book was -- Fiddle Dee, Fiddle Dum, is that Dinky Dog I see?  This was a childhood favorite of mine and would love to find a copy.

D211: Dolls in the house
This story was about some dolls that explore a house while the family is gone.  I think  the dolls leave the attic and walk down some stairs.  I think one of the dolls names was Maude.  I recall one of the dolls taking a bite of a soap bar.  My mother would have read the book  to me during the late 60's early 70's.  I am unsure of the publish date.  I do know that we checked the book out from a public library.   I do know that the book  I am looking for is not The Brooks Family- The Story Of Seven Dolls That Leave an Attic Trunk,  By  Ruth Inman Pickett.

Jan Wahl, The Muffletumps.  The adventures of four Victorian dolls who come out of the trunk in the attic while their owners are on vacation.  There are sequels to this book as well.



D212: Dueling Flying Game
Solved: Ace of Aces


D213: Detective
Solved: Big Max


D214: Dinosaurs explorers floating down a river
Solved: Plutonia


D215:  Dee
A children's book illustrated in black and white photos of a girl on the farm in the 1950s or 1960s.  Her name was Dee, and the book tells a story of the dairy process in the Midwest.  I remember in one picture she was wearing saddleshoes.

Liffring-Zug, Joan, Dee and Curtis on a dairy farm, 1957.  Story and photos.  Part of The Farm Life series
Liffring, Joan.  Jim and Alan on a cotton farm.  Follett, 1959. cotton growing - juvenile fiction - photos of  children, Jim and Alan, on cotton farm    Farm life series



D216:  Devil trilogy
Solved: The Forbiddden Game


D217: dobbin/rocking-horse
This book is one which I read when I was ?6?, so mid-late 70s.  It featured a rocking-horse called Dobbin, Dobben, Dubbin... something like that... in a children's nursery (so ?English?).  It was in poor repair - at the end of the book it is restored, with a new mane and tail, thick glossy black hooves/saddle, dapple grey coat, ?red? bridle & saddle blanket?.  No one else on the planet appears to have read this book!  My mum remembers it existing, remembers reading it, but no more than that.  Any help much appreciated!

D217 Prob not this one:  Godden, Rumer    The rocking horse secret     illus by Juliet Stanwell  Smith    Viking    1977
Clifford D. Simak, Destiny Doll.  This sounds like it's going to be the same query that I recently answered elsewhere - a quest fantasy with an animated talking rocking horse named Dobbin?
Margaret Mahy, The Tick Tock Party.  This short story (published in The First Margaret Mahy Story Book,and also in The Horrible Story and Others) involves a birthday party for the family rocking horse, Tick Tock, during which the horse is repainted white, and get presents of a new black tail, a brown sheepskin mane, and a red saddle and bridle from various family members
Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit.  This probably isn't it, but The Velveteen Rabbit does have a skin horse called Old Dobbin, if that helps.



D218: doll hospital
Solved: Katy Comes Next


D219: drugstore wizard
It's a collection of children's stories with pretty psychadelic graphics. The one story I remember is a boy day dreaming, he imagine a dog as a beast, the drug store worker as a wizard, and other things.

D220: Doll
1960-1970's: A book about a doll that gets lost and gets swept up in a vacuum cleaner.  Teh book is done in black and white.  The doll in the book has black hair and wearing a pink dress.

Johanna Johnston (author), Marvin Bileck (illustrator), Sugarplum, 1955.  I'm certain this is the book you're looking for!  Followed by a sequel, Sugarplum and Snowball.  Out of print, hard to find, and expensive.  Please see the Solved Mysteries "S" page for more information!



D221: Doll Hospital
Desperate to find my favorite book (I read it in the late 60's) about a little girl who takes her dollie to be repaired at the doll hospital. While in the doll hospital, her doll meets several international dolls (Dutch, Spanish, etc.) and her dollie finally gets fixed and she picks her up. Story features, child, mother, very kind doll repair man, and the other dollies. Please help! It's driving me nuts. I think it might've been a Golden Book. It was smallish and didn't have a lot of pages. The drawings were so cute.

Could be Katy Comes Next by Laura Bannon, Whitman, 1959.  "Ruth's mother and father own a doll hospital where they are so busy repairing other children's dolls, they never seem to have time to mend daughter Ruth's doll."
But it's not Katy Comes Next. Could'nt be. I don't remember it being 47 pages long and it only had color drawings. It was the most darling little book. While the doll was waiting to be repaired, there was a Spanish doll and a Norweigan Doll, and they took turns keeping the new broken doll company. I think. It wasn't a shop owned by the parents. The mom took the girl to the doll hospital. Thanks again! I'll keep looking.


D222: Dragon held by witches has magic scales
Solved: The Mystical Beast



D223: danny dunn reading textbook
Solved: More Than Words


D224: Dark Cloud and Daphne
I read this book in the late 80's early 90's but i think the book was older than that.  I canot remember too much about the book, only that the main character was named Daphne & she had red hair. The story revolved around this big house and a portrait that looked like her..only it wasn't her (by the dress worn in the portrait it would have been too old to be her), the house was surrounded by woods and there was some kind of entity that in the woods. I think it was described as a "dark cloud" by the author.

Could this possible be A CANDLE TO THE DEVIL by Gail Hamilton, 1975. The plot involves a large house on the cliffs of a Cornish town and a stolen painting, and Daphne senses hate and fear around her. It sounds like it might fit, but I haven't read it~from a librarian
Walker, Holly Beth, Meg and the Ghost of Hidden Springs. (1970)  Could this be it?  One of the Meg mystery stories.  The part with the portrait and the look alike relative is very familiar. There is a scene, and a picture to go with it, in which Meg and her friend Kerry are staring at a picture of the main character's (Kathleen, though, not Daphne) great aunt and notice they look exactly alike and a point is made that the only way to tell it's not Kathleen is the older clothing.  Other things similar are that the house is huge, an old plantation I think the grounds around the house are creepy and dark, not sure if they're exactly woods but something similar  I think Kathleen had red hair and there's a "ghost" mystery that creates the whole "dark" feel of the book.  Worth checking out.



D225: Damaris reunites with Hero after adventure
Roman girl named Damaris.  Hero is named Marcus or Marius I think.  Story takes place during the time of Jesus.  Hero goes on an adventure, at one point a girl named Mona, I think, rescues him from some prison and gets killed by an arrow.  Hero and Damaris reunited at the end of the story.  My copy of the book was purple hardcover.

Douglas, Lloyd C, The Robe. (1942) Could the reader be thinking of the robe?   It's years since I read it, I remember the heroine as being called Diana - but I can't rightly remember.  A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ's robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene's robe-a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity and is set against the vividly limned background of ancient Rome. Here is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption.
Alas..not it.  I'm familiar with that one as well.  I distinctly remember the name Damaris as I thought it the most beautiful name I'd ever heard.  Jesus was not central to the book, but I believe was mentioned as a traveling preacher.  I'm shaky on this, but I think the word 'Roman' was in the title.
Godwin, Edward & Stephani, Roman Eagle. (1951) Possibly this one? "A novel aimed at teen-age readers, taking place in Palestine and Rome during the earliest years of Christianity, Roman Eagle follows the story of a young Roman boy (Marcus) who falls in love with a Jewish girl (Damaris). Marcus meets Simon Peter as a young adult and turns to the teachings of Christ Damaris chooses another path.
Gladys Malvern, The Secret Sign. (1961)  I'm not at all sure of this, but could it be one of Gladys Malvern's historical novels for young girls?  This title is one I associate with a Christians-in-Rome plotline, though I've forgotten the characters' names.
Godwin, Edward & Stephani, Roman Eagle. It  has got to be this book; I just got it out of its storage box to  check further. The odd thing is that the cloth looks black to me, but where some water struck it,  inside of the jacket, there are purple  stains!



D226: Duck destroys house trying to get ant
Solved: Henry's Awful Mistake
Henry's Awful Mistake1


D227:Dolls and talking plate of fish
Solved: Floating Island


D228: Doll lost
In the 60s or possibly early 70s there was a children's book about a lost doll that seemed to be set in the 1800s or turn of the century. A girl lost her doll, which was swept away by rain and her father goes out into the storm and brings it back to her, possibly finding it in a dump or landfill?. I don't remember the title or author, but the illustrations were beautiful and very impressionistic, similar to Edvard Munch.

This could possibly be the story 'San Fairy Ann' by Eleanor Farjeon. The doll in that is French and dates from an appropriate period, but is eventually owned by a refugee child in England during World War II (or I?), who loses it in a local pool. The girl was given the doll by her father, who got it from a chateau that was being bombed. A local woman (a teacher?) organises a clearing out of the pool, which has been used as a dump, and the doll is found.


D229: Dolls come to life
Solved: Beloved Belindy (Rageddy Ann series)


D230: Danes Invade England
This was a "young adult" novel (pre1973)about one of the Danish invasions of eastern England. It is pre-Cnute the Great and may be Alfred the Great's era but perhaps after or before (slightly). The distinctive thing that I recall was that the Dane's were always referred to as "The Army" though it was told from a Saxon not Danish perspective. The references to "The Army" always conveyed such a sense of dread to me!  Thanks so much for any help!

this is NOT Gary Treece's Mist over Athelny. I  read a lot of it to check on it
Rosemary Sutcliff.  Could it have been one of the books by Rosemary Sutcliff?  Titles such as The Lantern Bearers, The Shield Ring, or The Shining Company take place in Britain in a time when a group of invaders was trying to take over the country.
I checked out the Sufcliff books, their illustrations certainly suggest that they were written in the era of the book I seek. Unfortunately, the summaries I read removed my hope: none is the right book. Thank you for the suggestion though.
Have you looked at The Namesake: A story of King Alfred by C. Walter Hodges (1964)?
In 1967, C. Walter Hodges wrote a second book about King Alfred and the invading Danes.  It is called The Marsh King, and it's "A story of ninth-century Britain, when King Alfred of Wessex fought to establish and preserve peace, learning, and civilization from the invading onslaught of Danish blood, death, and Valhalla."  My local library's last copy has gone missing, so I can't tell you whether this is the book you're searching for, but it's worth a look.


D231: Dolls and twin owners switch places
Solved: The Village of Hidden Wishes



D232: Dolls and mice are friends
Back in the 80's I read a book about some dolls who lived in a dollhouse and were friends, I think, with the mice who lived in the walls of the human house - or maybe they were just friends with one of them. (?) I vaguely recall some incident where something happened within the walls of the house, possibly that one of the dolls had gone in to find her friend. I also recall some pen and ink drawings associated with this. This is not The Tale of Two Bad Mice, by Beatrix Potter. Thanks!

D233: Dog that talks after eating special berry
Solved: Tee-bo and the Great Hort Hunt

D234: Death causes unplanned time travel
Solved: Timeless Passion

D235: Dragon boy
This book is a children's book about a little boy who is either naughty or runs away from home with only a stash of gingersnaps which he really likes.  A witch comes along and turns him into a little dragon.  The townspeople are very upset to have a new dragon among them and I think they even took the little dragon to court where they tried him.  At some point the witch forgives the little dragon and turns him back into a little boy and everyone is happy again.

This has all the elements of PRINCE BERTRAM THE BAD by Arnold Lobel, 1963. Prince Bertram is bratty, and one day he hits a witch with a stone from his slingshot. As punishment, she turns him into a dragon. He runs away from the castle, taking only a basket of gingersnaps. He is sad and lonely, and then one day he rescues the same witch from freezing to death, and she rewards him by turning hime back into a boy.~from a librarian


D236: Dogs with hands that can talk
I'm not sure if this book was children's or not - perhaps YA?  A scientist somehow increases the intelligence of dogs greatly and operates on them to give them human tongues and hands.  I believe the scientist dies and the dogs loose their ability to speak and start reverting to canines.  I seem to remember it being very sad and beautiful in an Edward Scissorhands-ish sort of way.  Published in the 90s perhaps?

Kirsten Bakis, Lives of the Monster Dogs. (1998)  Defiently the wanted book.  Created by a German mad scientist in the 19th century, the monster dogs possess human intelligence, speak human language, have prosthetic humanlike hands and walk upright on hind legs. The dogs' descendants arrive in New York City in the year 2008, still acting like Victorian-era aristocrats. Most important, the monster dogs suffer humanlike frailties and, ultimately, real suffering more serious and affecting than the subject matter might at first glance suggest.
Richard Adams, The Plague Dogs.  Could this be The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams? Which as I recall was about laboratory dogs escaping.


D237: Dog who had no home
hello, the book i am looking for is about a dog who had no home, maybe a puppy. 1040s or early 50s, maybe golden book. He/she does to farmer, who chases him away, another man chases him with newspaper rolled up. Finally exhausted, he/she finds way to lights in dark. It is a birthday party, adn the chilren think he/she is the best present ever. Thank you.

Jane Thayer, Puppy Who Wanted a Boy.(1958)  This sounds like The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer...it came out originally in 1958, but has been reprinted several times since then, with various art work. The puppy actually finds his new home in a boys orphanage, so he has many boys, not just one, to love him.
Sorry, this is not the book I am seeking, but what a sweet story with other dogs not wanting to give 'their boys' to this puppy. However, in the book I am looking for, the puppy is chased away and not wanted, until the end. The year of first publication is earlier than 1958, but thank you for trying. I hope someone will, like myself, have read it as a child and remember it. Thank you
Sally Francis, Scat! Scat! (1929,1940,1950,1977) The plot of the book you're describing is almost exactly like this one, except in Scat! Scat! it is a little white cat who is looking for a home.  She is chased away with a broom, with a stick, sprayed with a hose, and chased by a dog, until finally she finds a little girl who wants her. Probably not the one you're looking for, but a sweet book nonetheless.
Sally Francis, The Puppy That Found a Home. (1947, 1967, copyright)  Cute book by Sally Francis, illustrated by Dorothy Grider, about a puppy who is searching for a home.  He eventually finds one with a boy named Peter. The book was originally published in 1947, and was re-issued as a Rand McNalley Jr. Elf Book in 1967.  Cover of the Jr. Elf version is red, showing the head & paws of a cute, smiling puppy, with his paws up on the edge of a windowsill or something.  Looks like maybe he's supposed to be a golden retriever, or cocker spaniel, or something like that - he's yellow, with long floppy ears, and longish fur. Seems like I've also seen a different cover, but can't recall what it looked like.


D238: Doll kidnapped by big bird
Children's book, sixties, think photos were black and white.  Lovely little doll is kidnapped from the window of a nursery or bedroom by a big bird, think it's a black crow.  She's dropped in the woods.  I was so afraid she'd never make it back home.  But she does.  Don't remember how.  But she is reunited with the other toys in the nursery.  It was a very affecting book.  I'd check it out over  and over.

Rachel Field (author), Hitty, her first hundred years. This book has just recently been reissued, so you should have no trouble finding it.
Dare Wright, The Little One. (1959)  Black and White photographs of actual dolls makes me think of Dare Wright.  I can't think of any books in the "Lonely Doll" series in which Edith is kidnapped by a bird, or lost in the woods. However, Dare Wright did write another book, "The Little One," about a little bisque doll named Persis who is found in an abandoned house by a passing turtle.  Most of the book takes place out in the woods. As Persis explores the world, she encounters bears, a crow, and a butterfly. (The butterfly persuades Persis to remove her clothes and run around naked, as it is so much cooler and more comfortable that way.) Maybe this is the one you are looking for?
Rachel Field, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years. (1930)  In one of her earlier adventures, Hitty is left behind in the woods by her owner.  A crow then carries her to its nest in the top of a pine tree.  She later falls from the nest, but is caught on the tree branches. A few days later she is found and rescued. Throughout the book, Hitty is repeatedly lost, stolen, sold, forgotten, etc. She does spend time outdoors, in the woods, a river, and various other settings. Illustrations are black & white drawings, not photographs, but maybe you are thinking of one of Dare Wright's "Lonely Doll" books?  I can't think of any of those that involve Edith being taken by a crow or other bird, or being lost in the woods, so perhaps you are combining details from two different books?



D239: Dog named Shoestring
This book was a story of a family headed west by wagon train.Their dog was Shoestring, so named because if it was not tied it was always under your feet.  I think the book was written specificaly for children, and I know I read it sometime around 1950 however. my father read it along with me, so it may have been some kind of adult western.  Regrettably I remember no details at all --just the dog named Shoestring.

D240: dress for each color of the rainbow
Solved: Marianna May and Nursey


D241: Dragon
Solved: The Dragons of North Chittendon

D242: Duck and emperor
Its a book abt a duck in china that gets set all these impossible tasks by the emperor but he has siblings that all have different abilities and they do them for him.  I read it as a child back in 1973 and have no idea what the title or author was

The Five Chinese Brothers.  Is it possible that you're mixing two books up?  Maybe The Story of Ping (a duck) and The Five Chinese Brothers (about a guy who's supposed to be put to death in all kinds of ways, but he always gets his specially-talented brothers to stand in for him).  Or maybe there's an adaptation of The Five Chinese Brothers that has a duck?



D243: Doll Family Shipwrecked on Island
Solved


D244: Detroit
Solved: The Dollmaker


D245:  Doll in the Attic
Solved: Magic Elizabeth


D246:  Dog hatching
Solved: When Fletcher Was Hatched


D247:  Dollhouse building
Solved: A Family Dollhouse


D248: Donkey with Ear "Mittens" on Book Cover
Solved: That Donkey


D249:  Did you know?
I am looking for the name of a nonfiction children's series I had as a young girl in the 70s, though they could possibly have been published in the late 60s.  I keep wanting to call them "Did You Know...?" or "I Want to Know..."  I seem to remember them being mainly white hardcover, but with rainbow colors on them.  The only interesting tidbit I remember from them is probably from the first book, and that is that dogs can see stars even during the day.  There were probably about 10-12 volumes.  I don't think the pictures contained very many colors, but it's been 30+ years, and the only thing I am certain of is the dogs seeing stars even during the day bit.  There is a good chance that this was something my mom bought piecemeal at a local grocery store in upstate New York/Albany area (either Grand Union, Price Chopper, or Albany Public).  Thanks!

Illa Podendorf, I Want to Know About series.  I think you want the "I Want to Know About" series published by Children's Press around 1972.



D250: detective animal juvenile mystery crossword
before 1984.  I remember reading a book (possibly there were several in a series) about a detective, who I think was a dog but might have been another animal or even a kid.  The story I remember clearly is that the solution to the mystery was that the culprit left behind footprints accompanied by cane-holes (circles) in the snow, so the detective knew who had to have done the crime.  I think the culprit may have been a fox. The detective worked crossword puzzles upside-down to keep busy while waiting for a case.  I think that this may be the unique identifier for this series. I read the book from my school library in the late 1970's or early 1980's.  I've searched and found a lot of "dog detective" series, but none seems correct.  Thanks!!

Walter Brooks, Freddy. Just a wild guess! Maybe the Freddy series by Walter Brooks? I am not sure about the crossword thing!
Thanks, but I think my series was significantly simpler in prose/level than the Freddy series.  Plus, the crossword-puzzle thing was a major emphasis for the detective's personality/color.  But, I looked up the Freddy series and I may get it anyway.  :)  Thank you again for trying to help me.
This is a longshot, but could you be remembering the Flatfoot Fox series by Eth Clifford? Good luck!



D251: Dude ranch
Anyone remember a beautifully illustrated book from the 1940s about a family's trip through the west, perhaps to visit a dude ranch? In my memory, the story is secondary to the watercolors of mesas, buttes, canyons and deserts.


D252: Dog Lost when Family Moves
Solved: Fritzie Goes Home


2007

D253: Dragons as alligators
The “book” ( I think it may be a short story) is about a scientist who converts alligators (or may be crocodiles) 3 chambered hearts into 4 chambered. Alligators then have a better oxygen level, grow bigger and develop buds on their backs. Over time and growth they develop larger buds and eventually wings  - dragons then rule the earth and damsels are no longer safe let alone sheep.  I’d like to think its Asimov or Phiilip K Dick but not been able to trace it

Guy Endore, The Day of the Dragon, 1934. Vague memory says that this is Guy Endore's short story "The Day of the Dragon" -- first published in 1934, and anthologized several times in fantasy/horror anthologies, including: ENDORE, (Samuel) GUY (1900-1970) (chron.);The Day of the Dragon, (nv) Blue Book Jun 1934; Alfred Hitchcock’s Monster Museum, ed. Anon., Random House 1965;Tales of Terror, ed. Kurt Singer, W.H. London: Allen 1967; Monster Mix, ed. Robert Arthur, Dell 1968; Alfred Hitchcock’s Monster Museum, ed. Alfred Hitchcock, Collins - Lions 1973; Zoo 2000, ed. Jane Yolen, Seabury 1973.



D254: Duplicate town
Solved: Underground Alley


D255: dandelions
This is a book I read as a child and I recall that it was a larger, hardcover book. It starts out with dandelions that get blown by a strong wind, and some get blown through a rainbow and some get blown through a raincloud. The dandelions that fly through the rainbow become these cute little people and the ones that flew through the raincloud become the bad little people. This is the extent of the book that I know and I don't remember much except that it was one of my favorite books. PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!! And convince me that I'm not going crazy.


D256: Dero
Pre 1925. No known title or author.  Book could be adult or juvenile.  One character named - Dero.


D257: Dystopian Christmas
In 1964, my junior high English teacher read us a short story.  It took place in England (probably London).  It was a dystopian (and remarkably prescient) portrayal of a future Christmas in which everything had been commercialized.  My particular recollection is that when one went to the department store (malls barely existed when this story was written!) they sprayed a mother's kiss on your check.  There was also a reference to going "Peter Panning." I don't remember other specifics, unfortunately, and remember neither the author nor the name of the short story.


D258: Duke, Little Rover
Ok here what I'm looking for. I had a book back in the 70's so the book may be from earlier I dont know. I want to say it was a book of smaller stories that rhymed but can't be sure anymore. One story was of two dogs named Duke and Little Rover. It went something like this.
"My birthdays coming sometime soon said Duke to little Rover/ I'll tell you what I really want and you can think it over/ I'd like a juicy beefsteak bone, a sirlion by the way/ I have one hidden Rover cried, it's buried in the Hay."Thats about all I can remember, I hope you can help me. I've been looking for it for awhile now for a gift for someone who read it to me back then, or maybe I read it to them, so long ago...Thank you!

Peggy Burrows, Kittens and Puppies, 1955, copyright.This was part of the Rand McNally & Company collection - Little Elf Books.  This verse is on the first page of the book with other verses in the book.


D259: Deer Island
deer island?, 1960s, juvenile. A girl, staying with aunt and uncle, forms friendship with another girl and together they in a cabin on Deer Island "roughing it".

Virginia Frances Voight, Mystery at Deer Hill, 1960s.
The book I described is not Mystery at Deer Hill; it took place on Deer Island or Isle.



D260: Dan, dad, zoo, Ms. Kitty
Solved: A Pet at the Zoo.


D261: Diary of a girl on a new planet
Solved: The Green Book


D262: Dutch,Children,Tulips, Stormtroopers,Cheese
1944.This is an early childs coloured picture book which features two dutch children who live happily amongst the brightly coloured tulip fields.They also look after large round cheeses. Alas, stormtroopers arrive from the sky,destroying the tulips stealing the cheeses. There is more dutch content but memory has faded. I was about 3 to 4 years old when my mother read it to me, I knew it by heart she would say. As it was during world war 2 and we lived next to a large air base in the UK, I suppose it was an early form of propoganda,
It certainly has remained in my mind ever since, especially when I see a field of tulips.

Dirk van der Heide, My Sister And I,1941. This may be the book.  Its a famous work of propaganda, supposedly the diary of a 12 year old boy who, with his younger sister, ezcaped from Holland to England in May 1940 during the German invasion.  The real author was an American, Stanley Preston Young.  My Sister And I was widely read during WWII and a popular song was written based on it with the same title.  I haven't read it, but Paul Fussell has an excellent essay "Writing in Wartime: The Uses of Innocence," discussing it and similar works, in his Thank God for the Atom Bomb And Other Essays.  Fussell's description sounds very much like the book in question.
Thank you for the suggestion but this is not the book.My book was for an earlier age group. Nevertheless I think it has solved half the question. I could never quite understand why the occupation of Holland should feature in a kindergarten childs book, but taken in the context of a very popular older childs book of the time,  it probably was an offshoot. Unfortunately early childrens coloured books will have low survival rate so I think it will just remain in the memory of a mothers voice and brightly coloured tulip fields.Thanks to the contributor.



D263: Dog with chocolate blood
Read in an eighth-grade English class in 1971 & 1972 in Illinois, part of a big book (anthology? workbook?) a dog about a big fat dog whose very existence embarrasses the young boy who lives with her.  She has chocolate blood and plays the hero at the end of the story.  Her name MIGHT be Genevieve Trueheart or Truhart or a variant.  She MIGHT be a sheepdog.

I also remember Genevieve Truehart!!! Found your site by trying to find this book.  The dog ends up saving the boy’s life in the end…  Would love to find it.



D264: Disfigured lover, disapproving mother
Solved: The Promise
D265: Disney, zoo animals escape

I'm looking for a Golden Book from the 1960's or 1970's that is a Disney story about Mickey and Goofy at the Zoo and the animals escaping from their cages. Hope you can help!

Well, it isn't a Golden Book, but I have a story about Goofy luring all the zoo animals back to their cages and playing them to sleep with his cornet (trumpet looking thing.)  It's a Whitman Tell-A-Tale book titled Goofy and His Wonderful Cornet.



D266: Devil with orange eyes and black pointy hair, image, anthology
I'm looking for a large hardback book, about A4 in size and with full colour illustrations, that would have been available in the 80's. I don't think it was a terribly old book, so it was probably published around that time too. It was a collection of fairy or folk tales and it included Why the Sea is Salt, which was my favourite. One of the illustrations for the story showed Dead Man's Hall and I distinctly remember a little devil with orange eyes and black pointy hair. There was also an illustration of the salt cellar itself. I have a vague memory of the cover having a white border with an area of blue on it, but I'm not sure about that! Sorry this is such a sketchy description, but you never know!

Augusta Baker, Best Loved Fairy Tales, 1974, reprint. This one might be worth checking out.  The date is about right, and it is a large anthology (approx. 9" x 12") , with beautiful full-color illustrations by various artists. Stories include Why the Sea is Salt, Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Emperor's New Clothes, Hansel & Gretel, Jack & the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Killer, Puss in Boots, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Steadfast Tin Soldier, Ugly Duckling, Dick Whittington & His Cat, etc..



D267: Doberman, Hawaii, WWII
I'm looking for a book written 40s-50s. juvenile fiction. Doberman police/war/MP dog living with a family (husband, wife, infant) in hawaii during or just after ww2.

S. P. Meek, Franz : A Dog of the Police. Wm. Penn Publishing, 1935-40.  I think this is the book the person is looking for.  The first half Franz is a dog of the police in California, and the second half he and his adopted family go to Hawaii, where he and his owner/acting Chief of Police stop an organized crime from taking over the island, as well as rescue people from drowning (and battling a moray eel), sliding down cliffs, and generally being a saint of a dog.  I loved this book!  links.



D268: Doll Hospital
It is a book about a girl whose doll is in disrepair. Her parents run a doll hospital and never repair hers until at long last, one day her doll is fixed and she has a wonderful new wardrobe. My wife is 51 and read this book as a child.

Laura Bannon, Katy Comes Next, 1959. Ruth's parents run a doll hospital, but are so busy repairing other children's dolls that when Ruth's own doll, Katy, needs repairs, she keeps getting put off.  Finally they take a day to repair Katy & Ruth is allowed to pick out a new wardrobe for her.
Laura Bannon, Katy Comes Next, 1959. This is the book that you are looking for!
Laura Bannon, Katy Comes Next,1959. Ruth's mother and father own a doll hospital where they are so busy repairing other children's dolls, they never seem to have time to mend daughter Ruth's doll.
See Solved Mysteries for more information on Katy Comes Next.



D269: Dan, Dad, Miss Kitty, and Zoo
I know the book started out with the line, "Dan and his Dad went to the zoo, and just for the ride Miss Kitty went too."  The book went on to tell of Miss Kitty's adventures at the zoo! I hope someone can help me! Thanks!

Marjory Schwalje, A Pet at the Zoo, 1965, copyright.  A Whitman Big Tell-a-Tale Book with illustrations by Art Selden, with photographs by James Conklin. (Key words: Cats, Pets, Zoo, Animals, Juvenile Reading)  "Dan and his dad went to the zoo and just for the ride Miss Kitty came too, and when Dad opened the door for Dan, out jumped Kitty and off she ran."



D270: Doll owns little girl
Solved: Gertrude's Child


D271: Dog hatches out of egg
Solved: How Fletcher Was Hatched


D272: Doll or girl living in a freezer
My friend remembers a book she saw in a children's store in the 70s which had a title like: The Doll (or Girl) Who Lived in the Refrigerator (or Freezer). Does that ring a bell?

Ardizzone, Edward and Aingelda, The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll, 1966. It is surely this book wich has been reprinted several times.  Abandoned in the frozen foods bin of a grocery store, a tiny doll is befriended and rescued by a little girl.
Ardizzone, Edward & Aingelda, The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll, 1966.
Ardizzone, Edward & Aingelda, The Little Girl and the Tiny Doll, 1966. The doll is abandoned in the deep freeze of a store by a nasty girl, another little girl finds her and brings her warm clothes, and eventually she asks the shopkeeper if she can take the doll home and take care of her.



D273: Doll beats child with spoon
A picture book from  the 70s or 80s where dolls live like humans and can buy real children from stores to play with.  A wooden doll (maybe named Gertude) buys a beautiful blonde child, then ruins all her clothes, cuts her hair, and beats her with a wooden spoon.  Eventually the doll feels bad for abusing the child, stops mistreating her and they become friends.  The last picture is of them hugging.  The illustrations are very colourful and detailed.  I can't stop thinking about this book, but can't find it anywhere.  Thank you!

Richard Arthur Warren Hughes, Gertrude's Child, 1966, copyright.  Definitely this one - see D270.
Richard Hughes, Gertrude's Child, 1966.  I think this Stumper has been requested before.  Gertrude is a wooden doll who runs away, meets and old man who takes her to a shop when she can choose a little girl for herself.  Gertrude mistreats her little girl in the same way as little girls sometimes mistreat their dolls, eg she cuts her hair off.  Eventually, the two become friends.
Richard Warren Hughs, Gertrude's Child, 1966.  Check out the answer to D270 - Is this your book?



D274: Druids in ancient Britain - adult fiction
The book I am looking for was a paperback, and I'm not sure of the date it was published, but know it was in the mid 1970s in the USA. The story was set in Druid England, near the time of Christ. There was a brief mention that Jesus had come to them to study. The story included a powerful chieftain/priest and his daughter, and a young man she fancied, but he did not fancy her. The chieftain was worshiping both Druid gods and a demon. There was a Druid ritual ceremony, during which the young man used a symbolic phallus, which humiliated the chieftain's daughter. In the end, the chieftain's daughter is impregnated by the demon her father worshiped. The young man burned the chieftain's daughter alive in order to destroy the demon she was carrying.  I believe there was a sequel to it.

Marion Zimmer Bradley, Fall of Atlantis.  The plot here sounds incredibly similar to the first half of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fall of Atlantis, which was originally two books, Web of Light and Web of Darkness. I'm not sure if this is the right book, though, because I don't remember anything about Jesus in it, and while it was a druidic culture, I don't think I ever connected the people with "our" ancient druids. (But it's been a while since I've read it, so my memory of the details is very fuzzy, and the plot is certainly very similar, so it's worth checking out.)



D275: Dollar bill used for time-travel
Solved: The Tutti Frutti Connection


D276: Duck decoy maker, heart anchor
The book was one I saw in the 1950s at my grandmother's (but I have no idea how old it was then) about a duck decoy maker who made a special decoy with a heart anchor on a string.  The heart was cut off by a fish or a rock, and he lost it.  That's all I know for sure.

Held, John, Danny Decoy, 1948, copyright.  This is the book. The picture of Danny with the heart is on the cover.



D277: Dennis's Book Puzzler
Solved: The Casket and the Sword


D278: dragon feathers boy
I read this book as a child in the 1970s.  It featured a boy who ends up fighting a dragon and being aided by ravens, swans who drop their feathers on the dragon, blinding it and allowing the boy to kill it.  Throughout the book, there is a pall of dark smoke across the pages and people fleeing the dragon.  The images in the book are very dark and certainly scared me as a child.  The book sounds very similar to "Dragon's Feathers" but I don't believe it is.

Please see Stumper D205.


D279: dragons, monkey face, illustrations
I was born in 55, had this book when I was very young.  Can only remember the color illustrations.  I think they had dragon bodies, with human/monkey type faces.  Sort of scary for a little kid.


D280: Dragon incinerates comic books
My daughter is annoyed with me because I gave away a book she liked, and neither of us can remember the title. These are the details she's sure about: there's a boy, and some kind of dragon (a small one?). He takes it home and hides it under his bed, and unfortunately, because it's a fire-breathing dragon, it not only burns up his comic books but sets the house on fire as well. Knowing that he will have a hard time explaining this, he leaves home with the dragon. The plot then involves a sea voyage and an evil older man with a "sword stick" (a cane that becomes a sword). The ship somehow gets damaged, but the dragon welds it back together with his fiery breath.  And that's about it...searching for "boy meets dragon" is pretty useless, and she hasn't been able to come up with any other details except that she's pretty sure the title is the dragon's name.

Brenda Seabrooke, The Dragon that Ate Summer, 1992, copyright.  This might be worth a look: Alastair's dull summer is turned around when he discovers a baby dragon in his mother's petunia garden. He spends the following weeks raising "Spike" as a pet, while trying to keep him hidden from his family and his grouchy neighbor. Also worth considering is the sequel, "The Care and Feeding of Dragons", in which Alastair starts fourth grade with the dreaded Ms. Cassowary as his teacher, Spike causes problems when he is left alone all day for the first time, and would-be dragon-nappers begin skulking about.


D281: Daddy's Little Monkey Face
A little girl and her Dad are at the beach (maybe for vacation).  They see some panies that look like monkey faces.  Her Dad starts calling his daughter "his little monkey face".


2008


D282: Doll in Santa's workshop
I'm looking for a Little Golden Book, probably published in the '40s or '50s, about a doll in Santa's workshop who talks nonstop until she wears a hole in her tongue. Is that title Santa's Workshop?

Geraldine Ross, Benjamin Brownie and the Talking Doll, 1962, copyright.  Benjamin Brownie, one of Santa's elves, thinks he is the perfect toymaker, until he makes a doll who won't stop talking until she wears a hole in her tongue. A Whitman Tell-A-Tale book, reprinted several times, with multiple covers. A green cover shows Santa standing in front of a Christmas tree, holding a sack of toys, and Benjamin putting the doll into the sack. A red cover shows Santa seated in a large green chair,  two other elves (one plugging his ears), and Benjamin showing Santa the talking doll. A third cover shows Benjamin seated on a stool, smiling & talking while working on the doll. Two elves watch him from the next room, looking concerned.



D283: Dulcie and Dougie Duck
Dulcie and Dougie Duck was an illustrated book about a duck (Dougie? Duggie) who loved Dulcie Duck but she was not persuaded.  Circa 1940s?


D284: Dog in a tropical place
This book is fairly old, late 50's or maybe early to late '60's, and it's about a friendly, stray yellow dog who lives in a tropical resort area, and he meets a fat guy who comes there as a tourist. I remember that it had something to do with a buried box, and the guy gets mad because he stubs his toe on it, and the dog steals his lunch or something like that. Later they become friends. I vaguely recall it being called "something the something-Eared Dog", maybe "Pointy-Eared", defintely not "floppy".

Mari Sandoz, Winter Thunder and Other Stories / The Spike-Eared Dog, 1963, reprint.  This is a long shot, having not read the story myself, but when I search based on your recollection of the title, this is the best I've been able to find.  "The Spike-Eared Dog" is a short story, originally published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1945.  It was reprinted in 1963, in a Scholastic book titled Winter Thunder and Other Stories.  Contents are: Winter Thunder (A young schoolteacher and her pupils survive the fury of an eight-day blizzard), The Neighbor (Charley was the only person who seemed to understand her lonely, stormy, growing up misery), Martha of the Yellow Braids (Martha was all Mari wanted to be - until they grew up), The Spike-Eared Dog (Tommy finds out that a push at the right time can turn a dog-or a man-into a hero), The Girl in the Humbert (A genarations-old family feud burns itself out in the blaze of a prairie fire).


D285: Daughter, Hardware Store, Romance, Racism
Solved: Lucy Richards trilogy


D286: Dollhouse
I'm looking for a book about a dollhouse (probably early 1960's) in which the dolls clothing is described in detail--especially the trunk they were kept in and raincoats, umbrellas, and galoshes.

Helen Clare, Five dolls in a house.  Helen Clare wrote a series of books about five dolls living in a dollhouse in the 1950's - 60's.  Elizabeth was the little girl who could shrink herself and enter her dollhouse.  I don't remember details about dolls' clothes and footwear, but the era fits. The five dolls (and a monkey) all had very distinctive personalities.
Rumer Godden, The Dolls' House, 1948, copyright.  Could it be this book about the Plantaganet doll family whose clothes and environment are very detailed?
Josephine Scribner Gates, Story of the Live Dolls (and others), 1910/1920, approximate.  Could it be one of the live doll books? I remember being fascinated by all the detail of the clothes and accessories that the dolls had when I read the first story as a kid.
Story of Live Dolls.  The part about the raincoats and galoshes makes me think of The Story of Live Dolls, where the walking-talking-living dolls and their little girls are all taken to the beach for the day--but since it's raining, all the dolls arrive wearing rain clothes.

Tasha Tudor, A is for Annabelle.This is a lovely book and I believe it was just reprinted: "A is for Annabelle, Grandmother'\''s doll"...and it goes on to describe all her accessories, including galoshes, umbrella, etc.


D287: donkey in silver mine sees stars in river
Solved: Platero y Yo


D288: donkey who didn't like his ears
This story was about a donkey who didn't like his ears. He tried to make his ears like the other farm animals, but without success. In one case, he put them forward like a pig's ears, and knocked his master off a ladder.

Duvoisin, Roger, Donkey-Donkey, 1940, copyright.  First published in 1940, reprinted by Parents Magazine Press in 1968.  The little donkey was unhappy because, of all the animals on the farm, he had the only ears that stuck straight up.


D289: Dentist molests girl, she vomits on him
I would have read this book in the mid/late 1980s or very early 90s.  The only part I can remember is that the teenage girl protagonist is having work done by a dentist (or orthodontist?) and he molests her (repeatedly, I think).  At one point when he is starting to touch her, she makes herself picture really gross things in her mind, like eating bugs, to make herself vomit on him.  She does vomit on him, and then runs away.  It's a YA book, much longer than just this scene of course, but that's all I remember.

Nathanson, Laura, The Trouble With Wednesdays, 1986.  "When her dentist starts sexually molesting her, sixth-grader Becky has trouble talking to her parents about the problem."


D290: Death leads to other worlds
Solved: The Brothers Lionheart


D291: Dragon escapes
I am looking for a book i found as a child.  Its about a dragon.  It was set in the 1920s.  All I remember is that the dragon escapes and a team try and find him.  I remember the dragon being in a gold cage and the people tracking him by hot air balloon.  Also I remember one of the illustrations being of the dragon flying through a cave and in the picture there is a black panther with yellow eyes for spots.  There are lots of illustrations and they were really well done.  Oh and I believe the book was written sometime before 1990 and is not too old.

An outside possibility could be My Father's Dragon, and the two sequels Elmer & the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland by Ruth Stiles Gannett.  They have an escaped dragon, a cave and a 1920s feel to them, but don't recall a gold cage or a hot air balloon.  They are still in print (I think) but were published in between 1948 and 1951.
Hi I looked into the suggested title on my stumper and that is not it.  If there is anything else I can tell you to help just let me know.  Tks.


D292: dragon hit with candy apples
1980, childrens.  Illustrated hardback of short stories, about 10" x 13".  Snippets of three individual stories I remember are as follows, and may be based on the actual story or are created by my memory of the illustrations that went along with them:
- a town center fair is disrupted by a fire-breathing dragon. A boy throws his candy apple at the dragon and hits him in the eye. Others throw their candy apples in a full-fledged attack, effectively taming the dragon which then gives the children flying rides as a replacement for the carousel and ferris wheel which it previously destroyed.
- a doctor with an old-fashioned black doctor's satchel. A wish is involved and I think that wish is to have pistachio ice cream fall from the sky. Which it does, and the streets are filled with mounds of green ice cream snow. A castle interior might be involved, with a stone staircase adjacent to two walls.
- A giant young man or boy dressed in a striped old-fashioned one piece bathing suit meanders his way through New York City and settles himself in the water at the beach to cool off.
Each of these was accompanied by very evocative drawings.  It had a bit of a Sendak-quality to it, in terms of the quality of the drawings, the fancifulness of the overall book, and the overall "feel" (the book was fun to read but not "cheery" by any means -- it was strange and a bit "dark" at points).

Since this stumper hasn't had any responses, I thought I'd throw this out there. Arnold Lobel's illustration style is sometimes mistaken for Maurice Sendak's. If the poster takes a look at the covers of GIANT JOHN and PRINCE BERTRAM THE BAD, he/she could confirm whether it rings any bells.  The naughty prince is turned into a dragon by a witch in PRINCE BERTRAM THE BAD, but the other details don't match. At the very least, you could rule out an incorrect answer.~from a librarian
Unfortunately that's not it, but thank you! I have been looking at more Sendak illustrations and it is possible my memory is wrong about the book in question resembling his style. But the stories are definitely right on, anyone else who is looking at this stumper!
Not exactly a solution, but your story about the pistachio ice cream reminds me of the illustrations for Dr. Seuss's "Bartholomew and the Oobleck."  The king wishes for a different kind of weather, and sticky green goop (oobleck) falls from the sky, piling up all over the castle and in the streets. I can't find any Dr. Seuss stories that fit the other desciptions, but perhaps this story was anthologized somewhere with stories from other authors?
Ugh. Thanks for trying to help out, but that's not it either...  The book was definitely a high-color glossy illustrated book, whereas I always think of Suess as being more sketchy drawings. The green was a good call though!
I also have been hoping to find this book and was thrilled to see it mentioned here. The illustration style is not like Maurice Sendak. I remember it being more scribbly, loose, looping black lines with washes of color. A very round sketchy style.  There was also a young couple among the villagers and I do remember there being a romance subplot to the dragon story. And I definitely do remember the ferris wheel and the heaps of pistachio ice cream! I have been trying to find this book since I was a kid (it's actually from the mid-70's I think, not the 80's). I hope the mystery gets solved!


D293: dog loves garbage, cat, horse, cow chews cud
I'm looking for a book that has several short stories or possibly just chapters about animals. I know for sure there is a chapter called "The Dog." The dog goes on and on about how he loves to eat garbage, and describes coffee grounds and eggshells for sure. Other known chapters are "The Cat" "The Horse" "The Cow." I think the cow talks of chewing her cud, but I'm not sure. I read it in the early 80s, but I was pretty young. I hope this was enough information. Thanks!

The Book of the Dun Cow.
  Sounds like maybe The Book of the Dun Cow? Haven't read it myself since the 80's.
I googled "The Book of the Dun Cow" and that doesn't sound like what I'm looking for. I wish I had more information. I know "The Dog" has the exact phrase "I LOVE garbage!" and that all the animals are in different chapters and all speak in first person. I want to say the animals are all farm animals, but I may be wrong.


D294: Disney Biography about Films from Artists Perspective
I've had wonderful luck with this site before, I've got my fingers crossed that you can find this book for me!  This is a Disney resource that I used for a project in 1997. The book tells the story of how a variety of Disney movies were created and offers a unique perspective. I have some direct quotes from the book, that did not appear on any google searches. I know that the publishing date has to be after the making of The Little Mermaid because one of the areas that I have quoted features that movie. Here is a quote from the book: "The artists wanted to create both a convincing illlusion of underwater reality and an emotionally believable set of characters. For inspiration in creating the fantastic undersea world, an aquarium was installed in the animation building. To emulate the movements of mermaids, a larger tank was built for live-action model Sherri Stoner to swim in." Another quote I have is from the Jungle Book, "In preparation for the story development, Disney handed Larry Clemmons, one of the four story men he assigned to the film, a copy of the Rudyard Kipling book and instructed him : "The first thing I want you to do is not to read it." This book also explains how Don Bluth was orginally an artist for Disney, but left to form his own company.  I hope this is enough information!!

Christopher Finch, The Art of Walt Disney,
1995, copyright.  A classic that has sold more than 500,000 copies since it was first published in 1973, now updated with seven completely new chapters (fully half the text and illustrations in the book) that carry the story forward, chronicling the dramatic resurgence of the company under new management, which has seen the release of the three most successful animated films ever made - Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. This new edition also covers live-action movie production and the growth of the Disney theme parks. To prepare this new edition, author Christopher Finch was given unprecedented access to Disney, interviewing scores of individuals, from chairman Michael Eisner and other senior executives to animators and Imagineers, as the artists who design the theme parks are called. The book is profusely illustrated, including concept art, background paintings, and stills from every important animation project, beginning with Mickey's 1928 debut in Steamboat Willie and including works in progress, such as the feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame; production shots and stills from live-action movies; and an enormous variety of views of the theme parks around the world, with close-ups of innovative rides and attractions. Art for the book was carefully selected in consultation with the artists and animators themselves. Cover is white, featuring Micky Mouse in traditional red shorts, holding a paint brush as if he has just finished painting the title of the book.
Bob Thomas, Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast, 1991, copyright.  A celebration of the world's most famous animated films features color artwork, interviews with illustrators and animators, a complete history of Disney animation, and an analysis of the making of Beauty and the Beast. Cover shows Mickey at center of a dark blue fading to white background, with rounded pictures at the corners, showing characters from Beauty and the Beast. Title appears above Mickey's head on a curved red banner. A 1992 reprint of this book shows Belle and Beast at the center, with corner illustrations of Snow White, Mickey (as the Sorcerer's apprentice), Dumbo, and Bambi. There is a later edition of this book (1997) subtitled "From Mickey Mouse to Hercules" which has illustrations from Hercules on the corners, with Mickey in the center of the cover.
We own a book that isn't the correct book the poster is seeking, but it does contain the exact Little Mermaid quote. It is titled Disney Treasury of Children's Classics From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Chicken Little published in 2007.  It contains 22 classic Disney movie stories with a unique behind the scenes look following each story. The Little Mermaid quote is here verbatim. However, the behind the scenes Jungle Book article does not contain the requested quote. I skimmed the other articles and didn't see anything about Don Bluth. The copyright info in the front of the book indicates that the Little Mermaid article was in an earlier edition published in 1997 with the same title except it only went from Snow White to Pocahontas. I wonder if this could be the book.


D295: deep diving adventure
Solved

D296: Dragon's wife is sick, needs monkey heart
The only story I recall from a collection late 1970s or earlier--the dragon's wife is sick and needs a monkey heart to eat, drama ensues. Detailed pen & ink illustration of dragon, monkey, & tree. Dragon looked so sad. Looking for title of collection or author. Hardbound, 8.5x11ish, maybe 150 pages.

Gyo Fujikawa, Fairy Tales and Fables,
1970, copyright.  The story you are looking for is called "The Dragon and the Monkey." The dragon's wife has heard that monkey's hearts are delicious, and she wants to try one so badly that she claims she will die if she does not. The dragon locates a monkey, and tricks it into riding on his back across the sea, to get to a place allegedly filled with wonderful fruit. Halfway across, the dragon attempts to drown the monkey, but the quick-witted monkey, upon learning that it is his heart the dragon is after, claims to have left it back in his tree, as "monkeys never carry their hearts around with them." The dragon returns the monkey to his tree, where of course the monkey escapes. There are two illustrations for this story: a black & white line drawing of the dragon and his wife, both looking very sad, swimming in the sea, stretching across the top half of the first two pages, and a beautiful 2-page, full-color picture of the dragon (colored orange and gold, and wearing a little black hat with a pink button on top) with tears falling from his eyes, and the monkey perched back in the top of his tree.  Other stories in this book include Little Red Riding Hood, The Hare and the Tortoise, The Real Princess, Little Eva, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse, Cinderella, The Teeny-Tiny Woman, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Milkmaid and her Pail, The Lion and the Mouse, The Moon Maiden, The Wonderful Porridge Pot, Puss in Boots, The Elves and the Shoemaker, Thumbelina, The Fox and the Grapes, Jorinda and Joringel, and many others.
Traditional, The Monkey and the Crocodile.  Your description sounds a little like this ancient (it appears in the Panchatantra, which may be as old as the 4th century, with even more ancient roots) tradtional tale from India: a monkey who lives in a rose-apple or mango tree gains the friendship of a crocodile by throwing him mangos. However, the crocodile's wife gets jealous of the friendship and feigns sickness, saying only a monkey's heart will cure her. The crocodile lures the monkey onto his back, and after swimming halfway to his house, sadly tells him what his wife wants. The monkey doesn't panic, but just says he has left his heart at home - the crocodile takes the monkey back to the mango tree so he can get his heart, and the monkey escapes. The story appears in many collections of tales from India, and has also been published separately as a picture book many times: try the versions by Paul Galdone, Sheila Lane, Mrudul Tata, Ellen Babbitt, David Mackay, or Kumuda Reddy, Naseeruddin Shah.
Possibly Magic Tales edited by Adelaide Holl (1964), if you change the dragon to a crocodile? See Solved Mysteries. The real table of contents is at the bottom of the entry.
Rose Dobbs, Once-Upon-A-Time Story Book, 1958, copyright.  Someone asked about a book whose plot involved a wife who wanted to eat monkey hearts. This is a very old fable. I found it in the above book, but I have seen it as a stand-alone. The title is The Foolish Dragon.


D297: Do you know what?
This rhyme was in a collection of rhymes and may have started with the words "You know what?" The rest of the rhyme is as follows:
Do you know what?  There isn't a house on the empty lot.
Do you know what?  The moon is cold and the sun is hot.
Do you know what?  Kangaroos leap and horses trot.
Do you know what?  A little child is called a tot.
Do you know what?  I have red mittens and you have not.
Note: The order of the lines may be incorrect.


D298: Duck All Alone Bright World
A children's book about a duck that is all alone in a big bright world after getting separated from his duck family.

Brown, Margaret Wise, The Golden Egg Book.
  Well, he's not exactly separated from his family, but he just hatched from his egg where he was all alone in a small dark world and now he's alone in the big bright world - until the bunny wakes up and they become friends.
Marjorie Flack, A Story About Ping.  Maybe this is the book you're looking for?  "Originally published in 1933, this sweet picture book is still a classic. Ping, a young duck, lives with his enormous family on a boat that travels the Yangtze River. Sadly separated from his family while looking for delicious morsels, Ping has the adventure of his life trying to find his home. With gorgeous, nostalgic illustrations."  "This is the classic story of a young duck who spends a harrowing night on the Yangtze river after he is separated from his family."
Jane Werner Watson, The Fuzzy Duckling, 1949, copyright.  A duckling gets separated from his large family and meets many different types of other animals enroute to reuniting with his mother and siblings.  It was an original Little Golden Book and the story also teaches its readers counting.


D299: "A dromedary standing still resembles stilts beneath a hill"
I remember a section of a funny poem that goes "A dromedary standing still resembles stilts beneath a hill". I have put it into google but couldn't do any good. If you get a chance can you see if you can find it. Better still the name of the book it came from. I had it around 1974.

Jack Prelutsky, Zoo doings : animal poems.
  Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky.
Jack Prelutsky, Zoo doings,
2000.  Googling "dromedary standing still" reveals a library listing for this book.  One of the poem titles is "Dromedary Standing Still".
Jack Prelutsky, Zoo Doings, 1971, copyright.  First printed in 1971, then reprinted in 1974, 83, etc.  It has an orange zover with a very large hippo on it. Poems include: A Dromedary Standing Still, The Egg, Electric Eels, Fish, The Gallivating Gecko...etc...


D300: Dinny Gordon's European trip
Anne Emery wrote a series of Dinny Gordon books, one for every year in high school.  The series ends with Dinny Gordon, Senior, and Dinny looking forward to a trip to Europe.  I remember reading a book about this European trip and I think she tours Italy with one of her high school friends.  I am wondering if anyone remembers the name of this book.  These were written in the 1970s.

Anne Emery, Dinny Gordon Series,
1959.  I read all 4 of the Dinny Gordon books.  They were actually written in the 1960's.  I have never heard of the book about her trip to Europe.  As far as I know, the series ended with her senior year.
There appear to be only the four Dinny Gordon books; perhaps you are thinking of a book in one of Anne Emery's other series characters?  You might check the listings in the GIRLS SERIES BOOKS 1840-1991 volume online at: http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/girlsseriesbook.html#5.
Rosamond du Jardin and Judy du Jardin, Junior Year Abroad, 1960, copyright.  Could the title you're looking for be this non-fiction account of maltshop author Rosamond du Jardin's daughter Judy's high-school junior year spent studying and playing in France with another American girl?  I think they also visit Italy.
Same genre, different author! Maybe Junior Year Abroad by Rosamond and Judy du Jardin -1960???
betty cavanna, toujours diane.   part of a series, a date for diane, and diane's new love. she goes on a trip to europe with her parents, last of the series. she is about 15 with a dog and 2 boyfriends fun series.


D301: Dragon and prince don't want to do their jobs
SOLVED: Jolly Roger Bradfield, A Good Knight for Dragons. 

D302: Deaf/mute orphan learns ballet
Series of paperbacks w/ light blue covers published by Scholastic (?). Translated from French (?).  A young boy who cannot speak learns/teaches himself ballet. I remember no one in the village cares for him. Later installments have him moving to the city and attending a proper ballet school.

Melvin Burgess/Lee Hall, Billy Elliot,
2001.  This is a total longshot, as it does not meet several of your points: Billy is not deaf/mute, the story is not French, and I don't believe there are any additional books. But, as books about boy dancers are rare, I thought I'd toss this one out anyway: Billy is a boy living in the UK during the miner's strike in the mid-1980s. His older brother and father are both out-of-work miners. When his father sends Billy to a local gym to take boxing lessons, he dislikes them but discovers a ballet class and begins training in secret. His father and brother are outraged when they find out, fearing that he will be seen as a "poof" and refusing to accept the notion that he could become a professional dancer. Eventually they come to understand his passion for dance and allow him to audition for a London ballet school where he is accepted. Adapted from a charming movie of the same name. Scholastic did publish an edition of this book.
Cunningham, Julia, Burnish Me Bright, 1970.  It's a long shot, but possibly you're thinking of Burnish Me Bright and its sequel Far in the Day? I remember seeing these on a school bookshelf, but never read them. However, "France" stuck in my mind in connection with the book. The blurb online reads "A mute boy, taught to pantomime by a retired actor, is persecuted by villagers because he seems to have a secret." That's not exactly what you're looking for, and the sequel involves a circus, not a ballet school. The picture of the cover I found online did indeed have a light blue border around it, though.


D303: drummer boy
Solved: Who is Bugs Potter?


D304: Dirty doll, red hair and purple dress, found by girl
The second story is about a girl who finds a doll that is filthy and lovingly restores it. The doll has red hair and a purple velvet coat or dress. I think this story was from the 70s too.

Not sure, but it puts me in mind of a story where a girl recalls all her various dolls, old, new, exotic, etc, and finally shows the "Queen of the Dolls": her most-worn-out-and played-with doll. The doll herself is pretty soiled and missing a shoe, she does have the red dress and dark hair, she is also smiling. Don't know if this is your book, but hope it helps.
The first poster is most likely remembering "The Best Loved Doll", by Rebecca Caudill. I don't think that's the one wanted though, because the other details don't fit.
Catherine Woolley, Ginnie and the Mystery Doll.  If it weren't for the cover with the doll wearing a purple velvet dress, I wouldn't think of this one, but it sounds like it!
No, neither of these quite fit. It seems like the girl didn't have any dolls and dreamed of having one. Her mom(?) finds this doll in a thrift store or something cleans it up and sews a purple dress or coat for it.
Steven Kroll, The Hand-Me-Down Doll,
1983, copyright.  Any chance this is the one you're looking for? "A lonely doll without a name endures a series of terrible misfortunes before she finds someone to love her. She finally finds a home with a little girl named Molly, who names her Polly."


D305: Divers find undersea cave, "gill" man in coffin
Solved:
Stranger from the Depths


D306: Dirty Laundry
Maybe 1970's, childrens.  My wife recalls a story that her Gram used to read to her...please help!! O.K. here's how she explained it to me. A lady washes a different article of laundry everyday (shirts on monday, pants on tuesday, etc.). And is getting fed up with doing her husbands laundry for whatever reason. So she stops doing the wash. And everyday he goes to work missing another article of clothing. Until he ends up going to work in nothing but his socks. Finally they reconcile and all is well.


D307: Duckling named "Me Too"
Story of a little duckling named "Me Too".  Large yellow childrens book.  Possibly published in the early 1940's.

Willis, Fritz, Me too,
1945, copyright.  originally published by Marcel Rodd & Co looks like it may have been reprinted in 1995 by Runaway Press.  It is the story of a duckling.
Fritz Willis, me too, 1945, copyright.  A story about a little duck and his mother, brothers and sisters. Front cover is grey with the little yellow duckling sitting down. Title "me too" (all lower-case letters) is in white.


D308: Dutch girl skates out to sea, sees ghost ship
Looking for a book from approx. 50 years ago about a Northern, possibly Dutch, crippled girl who one night gets to skate through the lochs out into the sea where she sees a huge ghost ship, and around the mast three sleeping children.  Illustrated in all blue tones.  Possibly bought in Holland.

Burglon, Nora, Ghost Ship: A Story of Norway,
1936, copyright.  I haven't been able to find a description of the story, so all I know is that this is a picture book. It has a tan cover with text and a picture of a ship in blue. The cover can be viewed at http://www.snocoheritage.org/wlp_08burglon.

2009


D309: Diamonds, Boots, Boy
Solved: Mystery Up The Winding Stair

D310: Daughter of politician runs away with young man
I am trying to remember a book I read in the late 70s/early 80s, but I don't remember the title or the author. (It may have also been made into a movie at that time, but my memory on that is even more vague.) It concerned the daughter of a politician or diplomat who ran away with a young man to see the country, hitchhiking, I believe, and of course, a romance developed. It seems to me that the title was something of a play on words, using a double meaning for political terms, like "Foreign Affair" or "Domestic Affair", but I have not been able to find these titles with the story that I remember.  Does this ring any bells? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

John Rowe Townsend, A Foreign Affair,
1982.  This may be the one you are thnking of. Kate is the daughter of a political journalist and becomes involved in a relationship with Rudi who is a prince/duke of an Middle European state. As I recall, Kate later finds that she is being used for political, rather than romantic ends.  I belive that the book was also published in the USA under the title 'Kate and the Revolution'.


D311: dutch, portrait, gardener, girl, love, NY?
I read this love story read the 60's. Was probably older book...young rich girl in house with portrait of Dutch ancestor falls in love with gardener...social status keeps them apart and when they finally get together she finds matched portrait of his Dutch ancestor in their home.

D312: Dit and Mar
Read 4th grade in 1962. Had two characters, Dit and Mar, involved in some type of adventure. Seems like a British book. They refer to eating from tins and there is a glade.  I think there was a stone house. There may have been a waterfall. Sounds like Enid Blyton but names are wrong.

Arthur Ransome , Picts and Martyrs, 1943, copyright. This is a bit of a stretch, but it was the first book that came to mind. This is one of the last in the Swallows and Amazons series, and features Dick and Dorothea. They've gone to visit Peggy and Nancy Blackett, but end up staying in a stone hut because the Blackett's great aunt Maria is visiting.


D313: Dollhouse and/or snow globe children's picture book
A children's picture book published before 1993 that has a theme of either a dollhouse or snow globe...looking inside the house or the globe.  I don't know if these are 2 separate books, or if they are the same.  Can you help?

Joan Esley, The Visit, 1980, copyright. My sister had a copy and we figured out that this was the book I was thinking of. Thanks anyway for trying to help me solve the mystery, but at least I found it!

D314: Dark Pony
A book of bedtime stories in which the last story was called, "Dark Pony". 

William Harris Elson, Christine M. Keck, Lura E. Runkel, The Elson readers: book four&#8206, 1921, copyright.
More Fun With Our Friends, 1962, copyright. This story is the last one in "More Fun With Our Friends," which is a Dick and Jane book.  See book stumper H255.

I think the suggested solution to this book search may, too, be completed.  I have no way of verifying the title however if I could see a picture of the cover or an assurance that the last story was "Dark Pony" I would know for sure.   Do you know where I could find either of those 2 clues as to this being "the" book?
 Again, thank you so much for your help in finding these 2 long lost books.

Agree with Elson Reader solution already present. A Google Books search for elson "dark pony" brings up several hits for teachers manuals for the series which indicate "Dark Pony" was in the student text and discuss hwo to teach it.  For instance, see http://books.google.com/books?id=FPUAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA380.
I remember this story from our old wonderful Dick and Jane books of the 1960s.  I agree this was the lst story in the book.  I think the illustration is of a flying pony over London.
Hey, maybe those basil textbooks werent so bad if we all learned to read and remember those stories after all of these years!!!!


D315: Dad's Favorite
My dad's favorite childhood book has fairy's hidden in the illustrations.  That is all he can remember.  He does not know the storyline.  He was born in 1947 so I am guessing the copyright is sometime around 1950.

Jane Warner, editor / Garth Williams, illustrator, The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies. This is just a guess, but if you can find a picture or a copy of this book (fairly recently reprinted), ask your father whether the illustrations look right.  My copy is the original edition which was printed in 1951, and Im about his age  one of my favorite memories is of trying to find the fairies that seemed to be hidden here and there. Its a compilation of stories & poems, which might account for his having no memory of the "plot".  (N.B. I believe one of the previous reprints has a slightly different title, not sure exactly what it is.)

D316: Doll
Published in 1960s, it is a middle grade novel with a lavender cover.  The illustration on cover was black pencil drawing.  Opening is an elderly woman receiving a package.  In the package is a doll (or dolls.  I think the rest of the book she is remembering about the doll when she was younger. I remember loving this book.  Authors name might be in the beginning of alphabet as I recall where in the school library it was shelved.

Carol Ryrie, Two Are Better than One. The story begins with an older woman receiving the package with dolls from her childhood friend, then flashes back to her childhood, the year she received the dolls.  The two girls were also writing a story about the dolls, and most chapters end with an installment of that story.
Thats how Two Are Better Than One by Carol Ryrie Brink begins ... Id be willing to bet thats it.
Carol Ryrie Brink, Two are better than one, 1968. This sounds like Carol Ryrie Brink  Two are better than one.The opening chapter is an old lady opening a patcel containing two dolls. It reminds her of her childhood and the rest of the book is about this. Two girls, Chrystal and Cordy, write a novel, a chapter each in turn, and they pass it to each other along with the two dolls, Lester and Lynette - the novel is about the adventures of the two dolls. Caqnt find a picyure of the first edition - mine is a later reprint with a different cover from what you describe. Carol Ryrie Brink, Two are Better than One. This is about two friends, Cordy and Chrys and their adventures growing up.  They have two little dolls that they write an ongoing story about- very melodramatic prose!  They take turn writing chapters.  The book starts with one of the girls, now elderly, receiving a box with the dolls in it from the other girl.

Is it possible that the answer to my stumper I148 is Bettina's Secret?  I recently had a memory that while she is in the hospital bed she is dreaming Hickory Dickory Dock...and having strange dreams as I wrote in the original book stumper. Do you know how BETTINA'S SECRET begins?


D317: Doctor murders nurse girlfriend -- is punished by having to marry nurses roommate who solves the crime.
I read this mystery/suspense novel in 1974 in a used paperback. Author was female. Locale New York City. A nurse at a large hospital becomes pregnant I believe and the doctor/fiancee murders her (at least that is the rationale I remember). The nurse's roommate eventually solves the crime herself -- the doctor had used some arcane medical means of effecting the murder. The crime cannot be proven, so the roommate forces the doctor to marry her as a kind of living daily punishment -- and "don't think of doing anything to me because its all written down and filed with an attorney in case of my untimely demise." It was a well-written mystery, and quite good with descriptions of New York city, classical music and medicine. Ending was a bit unconvincing, but Ive always wondered whether the unknown author went on to write other books. Reminded me a bit of early Mary Higgins Clark. Author and title have long eluded me. 

D318: Dragons tell each other stories
A friend of mine was telling me about this childrens book  because I collect both dragons and folklore, but he couldnt remember the title of the book (written before 1997), any character names, or the author.  It was a group of dragons of different colors/ethnicities/types who got together for a gathering/convention and they each told a story about themselves to the group.  He thought maybe there was a red dragon, a green dragon, a blue dragon, and a yellow dragon.

Frank Coussement , Peter De Schepper and others, BrainStrains Power Puzzles, 2002, copyright. I don't know if this is the book you were looking for, but see the chapter on Clever Logic Puzzles.  The puzzles feature different colored dragons.  Since you're interested in dragons, this might be an interesting addition to your collection. Good luck!
Beth Webb, The Dragons of Kilve, 1993, copyright. I don't have my copy anymore but I'm sure I remember the dragons being all different colours. Synopsis from Amazon uk "A collection of allegorical stories about a family of sometimes wayward dragons. Their friend the Dragon Master helps them understand much about caring and giving in a gentle and light-hearted way."

Thank you for your suggestions! I'm always interested in new dragon books, especially if they have nice illustrations.  I know that this definitely had different stories in it, but I don't believe that "The Dragons of Kilve" is old enough. I'm pretty sure this book would have to be pre-1990.


D319: Dollhouse Witch
Witch that lives in a dollhouse possibly named ClaraBell is friend to young girl 1960s-70s. Much thanks!!! I'm excited at the possibility of finding this book!!!!

Ruth Chew, The Wednesday Witch, 1975, approximate.I'm thinking this may just be the book. Someone had told me about a children's book with a witch named Clarabell and I put that together with my memory of  a book with a witch in a dollhouse--which isn'\''t much to go on. However, it is a late publication date for when I would have read this age level book. So I want to read this and see if it jogs the memory further. Of course, now I can'\''t find any reference to a witch named Clarabell!

Chew, Ruth, The Wednesday Witch, 1969, copyright. Mary Jane shrinks a witch and she lives in the dollhouse until Mary Jane and the witch's cat, Cinders, can make the potion to make her the right size again. 
Ruth Chew, The Wednesday Witch. About halfway through the book Witch Hilda shrinks to about 4 inches tall and spends several days living in Mary Jane's dollhouse until they can reverse the spell.
Chew, Ruth, The Wednesday Witch, 1969, copyright. Mary Jane shrinks a witch with the witch's magic scissors and the witch lives in her dollhouse while Mary Jane and the witch's cat make the spell to turn her back to the right size.
Marjorie-Ann Watts, Mulroy's Magic, 1971, copyright. Possibly Mulroy's Magic, a collection of stories told by Nanny Mulroy to a group of children, one of which features Edie McBride the dolls house witch. Does this sound familiar? - "It was the most comical little figure you ever saw. I had been frightened a moment before, but now I laughed. Edie McBride - I found out her name later - had a large head, and rather a small body in proportion. Her hair was straw coloured and hung to her shoulders in terrible tangles. She wore a grey velvet dress, very much torn at the edges, red and black striped stockings, and a black coat, which had gone into holes at the elbows. I knew she was a witch because of her tall black hat, a bit squashed now, on account of being shut up in the tin. She was about four inches high."
Marjorie-Ann Watts, Mulroy's Magic, 1971, copyright. Possibly Mulroy's Magic, a collection of stories told by Nanny Mulroy to a group of children, one of which features Edie McBride the dolls house witch. Does this sound familiar? - "It was the most comical little figure you ever saw. I had been frightened a moment before, but now I laughed. Edie McBride - I found out her name later - had a large head, and rather a small body in proportion. Her hair was straw coloured and hung to her shoulders in terrible tangles. She wore a grey velvet dress, very much torn at the edges, red and black striped stockings, and a black coat, which had gone into holes at the elbows. I knew she was a witch because of her tall black hat, a bit squashed now, on account of being shut up in the tin. She was about four inches high."

D320: Dystopian state farm girl escapes from
Dystopian future, children live on state farms to work & school? children name alphabetically by birth year. Unseen mothers breeders? children drink drugged water make them docile Girl drinks from river clears her head & escapes with boy she sees over river, lives with other escapees & go somewhere

G. R. Kesteven, The Awakening Water.The main character is a boy, but it sounds like the same plot.
G. R. Kesteven, The Awakening Water. Sounds like this one.
Claire Huchet Bishop, Twenty and Ten, 1952, copyright. The book you're looking for is "Twenty and Ten" by Claire Huchet Bishop. It was printed in hardcover by Viking in 1952. Beginning in 1970, it went through multiple reprints in paperback by Scholastic, with a different title "The Secret Cave". The 1990s saw it back in print, from Puffin, under it's original "Twenty and Ten" title. It's not in print at the moment, but there are many, many copies available used!!
The awakening water
. Thanks so much it is the awakening water i recignised the title once I saw it. Many thanks again this has bugged me for a while

D321: Dragon Tamed by Candy Apples
 Illustrated book of short stories, 1970's? A dragon attacks a town fair and is tamed by townspeople throwing candy apples. A man with a black satchel conjures green ice cream from the sky. A giant boy strides through a hot city in a striped one-piece bathing suit and settles at the beach.


D322: Depressed Boy Finds Love, Self-Esteem at Summer Camp
The book deals with a young high-schooler named Charles who is depressed about the death of his favorite teacher.  Charles goes to summer camp and falls in love with a young woman who restores his self-esteem.  It's a paperback original, YA novel, early 1980s.  Cover: boy and girl holding hands.

D323: Dollhouse Tudor style fiction book
From what I remember about this book, is that there is a family that gets a gift of a dollhouse. It is a Tudor style from that era.  The sisters end up talking to a doll who is a lady at the house and eat marizipan. Later on there is talk about how funny they are dressed (they are in nightgowns.)
The girls stay up at night talking to the doll. They are sisters and they also have a brother. Later on in the story they tell their brother who doesn't believe them that the dollhouse comes alive Their brother goes in with them, and there is an uproar at the dollhouse. There are horses, and I'm guessing some kind of battle for the kingdom kind of thing.  The book, I think, was made for a teenage audience, and I read it in the early 90's but I am thinking it is from the 70's possibly 80's.  The marzipan thing stood out to me, because the doll comments to the girls how they have never had marzipan before, and the one girl puts a mazipan in her pocket to save for later.  Later the next day she wakes up, and the marzipan is in her nightgown pocket.  The dollhouse was a gift to the family. I think it was a family heirloom that was passed down from someone that was recently deceased. 

Edward Eager, Knight's Castle,1956, copyright.
Rumer Godden, The Doll's House. This sounds like "The Doll's House" by Rumer Godden, who wrote several absolutely lovely books about dolls.
Reby Edmond MacDonald., The Ghosts of Austwick Manor,1982. Not 100% sure this is right, but it reminds me of THE GHOSTS OF AUSTWICK MANOR. Don inherits a dollhouse that is a replica of a family manor. When the dolls are taken out, the two girls begins to travel back in time through the dollhouse. They are trying to break a family curse that was placed on the males of the family. There are more details on your Solved pages.~from a librarian.

I think the querent is citing memories of two different books. The heirloom dollhouse is from Rumer Godden's "A Doll's House", and so is Marzipan, which is the name of one of the dolls -- a lady, but she causes trouble. The rest of the details don't match, but might be part of "Knight's Castle". I know that is about kids who start out re-enacting Ivanhoe with a group of toy soldiers, if that helps.


D324: Dingy named Doughnut and postal boat
Children's book about a dingy named "Doughnut." Kids were stranded near a cave on a sandy beach and hid under an upside-down boat, they looked out from under the boat and saw the bad guy's feet.  I think another character was named "Panama" and may have piloted a postal boat to there. 

I know I read this too, but it was a long time ago.  :)  It *might* be The Secret of Crossbone Hill, by Wilson Gage, and illustrated by Mary Stevens (Gage). It's a long shot though. If not, it might be something else illustrated by Mary Stevens

Lauber, Patricia, Adventure at Black Rock Cave, 1959. This stumper has been irritating me for ages - as the dinghy called Doughnut seemed so familiar.  I could see the cover in my head but couldn't remember the title!  I knew it had to do with a rock and lobster poachers...and finally found it - Adventure at Black Rock Cave.  The scholastic cover shows Addie and Chris in the rowboat complete with the name Doughnut on the cover.  There's a bit more in the solved mysteries page and you can see the cover at its librarything record http://www.librarything.com/work/344645


D325: Dumb Crumb
I believe it was in a big book of children stories from the 1960's. The dumb crumb fell off a piece of toast and could not find it's way back to the mouth.  Another story was like goodnight moon but different - something like goodnight goodnight.


 D326: Doll for Sea Captain's Daughter
This is a children's book from the 1950's.  It's about a sea captain who brings back a doll for his daughter from every voyage.  He brings a Dutch doll from his trip to Holland, for example, and a doll from each of the other countries he visits.  On his last trip, as a very special doll, he brings a doll that combines the characteristics of all the other dolls, such as the hair of the Holland doll, the cheeks of the Greek doll, the eyes of the French doll, etc., and guess what - the final doll looks exactly like the daughter!

Morrell Gipson, The Surprise Doll. 1949. Mary's father was a sea captain. He took long trips across the ocean in his ship. From her window Mary waved good-by when he sailed away, and she waved hello to him when came sailing back. Six times he came back with a doll for Mary, so she had six dolls from six different countries. One for each day of the week but Sunday. A dollmaker crafts a seventh doll for her and she must wait for seven days for her new doll to be finished. Oh, will it be a surprise! Reprinted in 2004.
Morrell Gipson, The Surprise Doll. It's The Surprise Doll by Morrell Gipson. Luckily Purple House Press reprinted this book.

Solved: Gipson, The Surprise Doll.The mystery is solved for D326.  Thanks so much!  The best $2 I ever spent.  This was my favorite bedtime story as a child, and I know my Mom got tired of reading this night after night and night, but I just loved the story.  I am so glad to see that the book is back in print.  I've ordered a copy, so that now (at age 61) I can read it every night without bothering my Mom!


 D327: Doll Lost Adventures Reunion
read 13 years ago at schl hrdback about a cloth doll who gets washed away   travels around the world via the ocean  ends up in india i think and the little girl who owned her also ends up in india and finds her there she was clothed in a dress made by the girls mom from girls old dress/clothes.

Rachel Field, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, 1929. Could this be Hitty by Rachel Field?  She was made of wood, not cloth, but she did get lost and then found again (though not by the original owner) in India.  Fabulous doll story.


 D328: Divas, dimensions, travel, demons
a boy meets a demon, called a diva, and they travel through dimensions

Robert Asprin, Myth Adventures series, 1978-2009. It isn't an exact match, but it sure sounds like you must be looking for this series. The main characters are Aahz, a green, scaly "demon" (short for "dimension traveler"), who is a sorcerer but has lost his powers  Skeeve (a human) who is a young journeyman magician, apprenticed to Aahz  Gleep, Skeeve's pet dragon  Chumley (a troll) and his sister Tananda (a trollop)  and Massha (an expert in magical weapons and tools). Some of the notable dimensions include: Aahz's home dimension, Perv (creatures from there are called Pervects, not Perverts)  Deva - the merchant capital of the dimensions.  Denizens are called "deveels" and are shrewd traders. The Bazaar at Deva is a recurring setting for the series  Klah (Skeeve's backwater home dimension)  Imper (home of the imps) and Trollia (home of the trolls and trollops). This series of books follows the dimension-hopping adventures of Skeeve, Aahz, and their friends (and enemies), and their business, MYTH, Inc., a magician-for-hire enterprise. Titles in the series include: Another Fine Myth, Myth-Conceptions, Myth-Directions, Hit or Myth, Myth-ing Persons, Little Myth Marker, MYTH Inc. Link, Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections, MYTH Inc. in Action, Sweet Myth-tery of Life, Myth-ion Improbable, and Something MYTH Inc.
Robert Asprin, Myth Adventures Series. A long shot, but maybe one of the books in Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures series? (Another Fine Myth is the first one.)
Just possibly one of the Myth series by Robert Lynn Asprin? They feature magician's apprentice Skeeve and the "demon" Aahz as they travel through multiple dimensions. Puns abound.
Asprin, Robert, Another Fine Myth. This could be the Myth Adventures series with Myth Conceptions, Myth Directions etc. Ensemble cast of characters include the apprentice magician Skeeve, his mentor Aahz, a demon who travels between dimensions (who is also without magic due to a practical joke), dragons, vampires, trolls, trollops, and the Mob. The dimension Deva hosts a bazaar which sells anything and is home to Deveels, the best traders and negotiators.
The name of the supernatural creature is usually spelled "deva" if that's any help...
Asprin, Robert, Another Fine Myth, 2002.This could be one of Robert Asprin'\''s "Myth" books of humorous fantasy. The hero is an apprentice magician named Skeeve who travels to other dimensions and meets demons, dragons, etc.  Another possibility is the "Xanth" books by Piers Anthony.


 D329: Dare, night in old house
I read this book late 80's early 90's about a kid that gets dared to spend night in old house. a few of his/her friends go to. They decide to explore the house and find a boy/man whose parents kept him hidden in a secret room in the attic. I think it had a yellow cover with a picture of a house

D330: Dinosaurs turn into trucks
I am trying to locate an illustrated children's book we read in the early-mid 80s about a boy who dreamed about dinosaurs that turned into trucks and vice-versa. It is not Gary Nolan's 90s book...it predates it. It was my son's favorite and I am trying to remember the name and find a copy.

Martin, Rodney, There's a Dinosaur in the Park, 1987. As a boy plays in the park his imagination causes him to see dinosaurs everywhere, trucks, cars, mailboxes etc.

2011

D331: Dogs get lost during move

SOLVED: Dori Brink, Spunky, 1980.


2/22/2011D332: Dollmaker's daughter
It is about a little girl whose father is a dollmaker.  She watches him make beautiful dolls for wealthy little girls all day while her own poor little doll is in tatters.  Finally, he decides to repair her doll and the book describes all the things he does to make her doll like new again.

Laura Bannon, Katy Comes Next,
1959. Pretty sure you're looking for Katy Comes Next. From another site: "Ruth is little girl whose parents own a doll hospital. She has always been proud and fascinated by how her parents can make old or damaged dolls beautiful again. However, Ruth's own beloved doll, Katy, is in need of repair herself. As her parents rush around repairing dolls for their customers, they keep assuring her that Katy's turn will come next. After being put off repeatedly, Ruth starts to think that poor Katy will never get the attention that she needs. When Ruth's parents realize how discouraged she is, they decide to take a day for Katy to come first."
Bannon, Laura, Katy Comes Next, 1959. Ruth’s mother and father own a doll hospital where they are so busy repairing other children’s dolls, they never seem to have time to mend daughter Ruth’s toy.
Laura Bannon, Katy Comes Next. Sounds like Katy Comes Next (described on the Solved Mysteries page).  http://loganberrybooks.com/solved-k.html
Yona Zeldis McDonough, The Dollshop Downstairs, 2009. The inspiration behind this story is the Madame Alexander line of dolls. "Anna's father repairs dolls for a living with parts he special orders from Germany. Their family lives above the shop and the nine-year-old and her sisters help with chores. In their spare time, they make up games to play with the dolls waiting to be repaired. Of course, each girl has a favorite. When war breaks out (an author's note says it is World War I and describes the embargo), Anna's father can no longer get his parts and the shop begins to suffer. He starts returning the dolls he can't repair, and soon there are only six left. Then Anna comes up with the idea to create new ones, and her Nurse Nora is a success. With business looking better, the only thing the girls have left to worry about is whether or not the owners of their favorite broken dolls will return to claim them. This slow but sweet tale has an old-fashioned feel and is based on a true story. Readers who stick with it will be happy with the ending."
Bannon, Laura, Katy Comes Next. This book is Katy Comes Next by Laura Bannon.

D333: dog/puppy who gets ears/tail chopped off

SOLVED: Marshall Saunders, Beautiful Joe. Wow, thank you so much for helping me find out the name of that book.  You did it again!

D334: Dog in bathtub
Book cover is purple with a dog in a bathtub on the cover.  I believe the dog also has a towel over his head & there is also a cat. The story is about a dog that is adopted by a family and brought home & put in the bathtub & is afraid of lightening. Dog gets in trouble.

Beverly Cleary, Ribsy. This book sounds like Ribsy.
Wallace, Bill, Totally Disgusting! 1992. The cover is exactly as you describe - purple, with a dog in the bathtub with a towel over his head. There is also a cat in the tub with him, and he is holding the cat's tail in his mouth. The main character of the book is the CAT rather than the dog, however. "The title refers to the narrator kitten's attitude toward his name, "Mewkiss," given to him by Jessica, for whom he was a birthday present. Mewkiss feels the silly name dooms him to a life of weakness and helplessness against the vicious rats who have already killed one of his sisters, and who are planning to bite Jessica. When an old cat tells Mewkiss that his name really is "Mukiz," the name of a famous warrior cat in ancient Egypt, the kitten courageously fights off and kills a rat." I read this book over and over again as a kid, though I must confess I don't remember much of the dog's personality (it's been many years!). However, based on the cover alone, I feel pretty confident you must be talking about this book. 

D335: Doll falls into jar of jelly
A sad old doll is neglected on a shelf for a new doll.  She eventually falls into a jar of jelly being made in the kitchen.  She is rediscovered when the jelly jar is opened and discovers she is a most loved, and missed doll.  Possibly..sugarplum,  or most loved doll..best loved doll..

Johanna Johnston, Sugarplum,
1955. This is definitely Sugarplum. See the solved mystery page "S": http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-s.html

D336: Do you recognise this illustration from a children's book?
SOLVED: Edward Ardizzone, Tim's Friend Towser, 2008, reprint. The title page from Tim's Friend Towser. Thanks very much to all for your help.

D337: Dam
SOLVED: Catherine Marshall, Julie.

2012

D338: Dinner party disappearance
SOLVED: Harry Farjeon, Exit.

D339: Deaf girl
SOLVED: Barbara Corcoran, A Dance to Still Music.

D340: Dogs in spaceship
I read this book in Grade School ('90-'95) about a group of dogs who were in a spaceship looking for treasure.  One of the dogs was bad and wanted it all so as they traveled to different worlds he found ways to strand the other dogs (on a world covered w/ lollipops he left a poodle stuck to one)

Nicole Rubel, Pirate Jupiter and the moondogs
, 1985. Accompanied by his canine crew, a ruthless pirate travels from planet to planet in search of buried treasure, but he leaves his mates behind, one by one, hoping to have the riches for himself.  Later turned into a computer game.

D341: Dog saves cat with wooden leg 
About a puppy and kitten brought home in coat pockets. They grow up together with the family. At some point the cat loses a leg. Father makes wooden leg for the cat. House burns down and all are safe but they can't find the cat. The dog swims out in the lake behind the house where he took the cat.

Jack O'Brien, King and the Princess,
1940's. I saw this book at my local Salvation Army a few months ago, but remembered it due to its uniqueness - I'm glad I did now! "A delightful little story for young readers of the friendship between a police dog and a little black cat that had a wooden leg. The background is that of the northern woods, in a hunting lodge. An appealing story for any child of any age." At least one seller online has a cover image you can look at for verification - I hope this is it though, since the plot fits!

D342: Dead Monk in Tunnel
I'm looking for a book I had around 1991, although I think it might have been older, from around the 60s or 70s. It was an adventure/mystery story, I think, that took place in Europe.  All I remember about it was that there was a group of kids and that they discovered an old tunnel that ran under. Updated: All I remember about it was that there was a group of kids and that they discovered an old tunnel that ran under the remains of an old abbey or monastery that was destroyed by fire.  In the tunnel was the skeleton of a monk who was killed as he tried to escape the fire.  He’d thrown himself on top of a box containing the bones or ashes of a saint, trying to protect them from the fire (or maybe there was a locket or amulet with the ashes in it? I remember something about an amulet). It stuck in my memory because it was the first time I’d heard of holy relics. I have the feeling that there was something supernatural about the story with one of the kids having visions or something that led them to this tunnel. My mother gave this book to my cousins years ago, but no one remembers it now but me.

Patricia McKillip, The House on Parchment Street, 1973. Just a guess, since your description seems to be truncated, but you could be remembering this story about an American teenager, Carol, who goes to England to visit relatives for the summer.  She's tall, shy, and awkward, and she and her cousin Bruce (her age) have a disastrous first meeting but later form a wary friendship.  The house is centuries old and has a stone cellar, in which both kids have been seeing ghosts that show up every day at 4pm.  Turns out they're a girl & a Puritan soldier (who reminds Carol of Pilgrims in pictures) from the 1600s, walking into the wall to re-enact a tragedy that took place back when there was a tunnel there.  Eventually the kids figure it out, the old tunnel is discovered, and the skeleton of the girl's brother (a priest) is inside -- he was murdered by the Puritan while in hiding. Once his bones are given proper burial, the ghosts no longer walk.
Elizabeth Jewett, Hidden Treasure of Glaston, 1963. One of my favorites, and still in print! A crippled boy named Hugh is left at Glastonbury monastery by his Crusader father. Together with an acolyte named Dickon, they embark on a quest for the holy grail.
Those are good guesses, but I don't think that either of those is the book that I'm remembering.  The Hidden Treasure of Glaston comes close, but I keep thinking that it was more modern children who found the tunnel with the monk in it.  Let me know if you have any other ideas!
D343: Duck meets beautiful black female duck, 70's children's book
Looking for any info about this children's book that I remember from my childhood. The book is most likely from the 70's and it tells about a duck (or some other bird, but in the translation in my language it was a duck), who meets this black female duck (she is portrayed as exotic and "eastern")

Updated: This book is a 70's puppet illustration book similar style to Japanese Izawa/ Hijikata puppet storybooks. The book could actually be from Izawa/ Hijikata, but if so, I haven't been able to find the correct title. The protagonist is a duck (or some other bird) who probably has a car or some other vehicle. He meets a female duck who is black in color & is dressed in an exotic manner (think Scheherazade) and has a jewel on her belly button. I think she was also wearing pointy-toed "harem" slippers, babouches. The male duck character was also black if I remember correctly. The book is illustrated with photos of these bird-puppets in different settings. I've been searching this book for years and years so it'd be fantastic if anyone would have some clue about it. I'm wondering whether there is a comprehensive list available of Izawa's/ Hijikata's puppet books? While I've been googling around, the results have mainly been about common well known fairy tales, but the book I'm searching for just doesn't fit the bill... Does anyone know if there were other illustrators who made similar books? Perhaps maybe Eastern European?


D344: Door to hidden world beneath a tree opened by kicking stone three times
I remember reading a story in approx 1975 where the protagonist is a boy who walks around a tree, kicking a large stone each time.  This is the secret code to opening the stone (or tree?) which allows him to enter a world under the tree.  This world has been waiting the return of their protector.

Webb, Marion St. John, Knock Three Times,
1917. Possibly KNOCK THREE TIMES by Marion St. John Webb ?  It has the "other world reached via a tree" and as the title suggests the "three knocks" motif, but if I recall correctly it's told mostly from the viewpoint of a girl, not a boy (though both brother and sister originally entered the land)[...]The 1994 Wordsworth pb is I think the only modern edition, and I've not seen a copy even of that one for many years, so if it is this one, good luck...

D345: Dinosaur egg hatches in Washington DC
A boy "finds" a dinosaur egg. It hatches. He rides the dinosaur on the mall near the Smithsonian museums. It was a scholastic book that we could order.

Hoff, Syd, Danny and the Dinosaur, 1958. This is a stretch, as not all the details match, but perhaps you're remembering Danny and the Dinosaur? It begins in a museum and Danny rides the dinosaur around town.
Butterworth, Oliver, The Enormous Egg, 1956. Definitely The Enormous Egg.  (My copy was an SBS book, too.)  The dinosaur (a triceratops, which ends up with the name Uncle Beazley) hatches from an egg on Nate's father's farm, attracting media and scientific attention.  Ultimately, it is relocated to Washington, D.C., where Nate takes it for walks for exercise (one of the more memorable illustrations in the book!). 
Oliver Butterworth, The Enormous Egg, 1956. Nate Twitchell's hen lays a huge egg- which hatches a Triceratops.
Butterworth, Oliver, The Enormous Egg, 1956. "Young Nate Twitchell is surprised when one of the hens on his family farm lays a giant egg. After a painstaking wait, Nate is even more surprised when it hatches and out pops a baby triceratops that he names Uncle Beazley! But when Nate decides to keep the dino and raise it on his own, he has no idea what he's getting himself into. As Uncle Beazley grows, Nate and his family realize they are not equipped to take care of a full-sized dinosaur, and so with the help of their scientist friend, Nate and Uncle Beazley set off for the National Museum in Washington, D.C., on the hunt for the perfect home for a modern-day dinosaur---then the real trouble begins!"


D346: Dragon saws wood with his tale
I'm looking for a book that I read I think in the mid 70's . I know it was prior to 1980.  The book had a dragon and he could cut/saw wood with his tale.  That's all I could remember.  Thank you.

Bill Peet, How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head. This sounds like one of my kids' book. Droofus the baby dragon gets lost, learns to leave animals alone and eat grass, befriends a boy and his family, helps the family farm by clearing the fields and sawing wood with his tail, and becomes friends with the king.


D347: Doll lost for several years
c. 1970's. This was a story of a girl who goes to visit her aunt, while her parents are traveling. While the aunt is out for the day, she goes into the attic and discovers a young girls diary named Elizabeth (who in the end turns out to be the same aunt she is staying with). Elizabeth has this doll that she loves and the doll is lost and the girl ends up finding the doll with the help of her aunt's cat. The doll was up in the attic stuck in the eaves the all these years. The girl also stays in a guest room while visiting her aunt, which was Elizabeth's bedroom all those years ago.

Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1966.Almost certainly this one.  See the solved stumpers.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1966. Sally has to stay with her great-aunt Sarah in a creepy house while her parents are away.  She becomes friends with a girl in the neighborhood and with her aunt's cat's help, solves a mystery involving a lost doll named Elizabeth.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth. Definitely this book.  The girl is Sally, though, and the aunt is Aunt Sarah  it's the doll who is named Elizabeth.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1967, approximate.  This has to be Magic Elizabeth, obviously a much-loved book!  you'll find it in the Solved stumpers too.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth. Definitely the book.
Norma Kassirer, Magic Elizabeth, 1966. Sounds like Magic Elizabeth, see Solved Mysteries.


D348: Disappearance of two girls, mystery novel
Mystery novel :young cop who is investigating the disappearance of two girls who attend the same gifted school he did growing up. One of the girls was a story teller/hilarious practical joker and dies in the end. Other girl thought dead girl helped her, but couldn't have because she was dead by then.

Carol O'Connell, Judas Child, 1999. The description sounds like Judas Child, which is a psychological murder-mystery for adults, not a children's book.


D349: Dehydrated Girl, Underground Bunker
SOLVED: Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy, Operation Peeg. I believe we have a solved mystery: it's Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy's Operation Peeg, also known as Jane's Adventures on the Island of Peeg. I'll have to read it to be sure, but all the details are lining up.  Thank you!

D350 Dog died poem
A dog that was lost or died...in it, there was a poem about the dog that ended, "I'm speaking of my Bebe, I'm telling it to you". The poem went SOMETHING like:
Searching through the morning mist / I wandered all alone / Searching for the only thing that I can call my own. / Blah, blah, blah and THEN / I'm speaking of my Bebe / I'm telling it to you. This was written by the girl in the book, and this was her dog.

LOIS DUNCAN, HOTEL FOR DOGS. Not sure but it could be!

D351: Dog, old man, children's book
My grandmother used to read this to us.  Children's fiction from late 50s, early 60s about a dog named Bengy, not sure of the spelling. It's the name of the book; I remember a white cover with the name, just Bengy.  It was funny.  Seems to me the old man would sneak out to smoke!

D352: Dogs named "fetch me food", and "eat em up"
The only thing we can tell you is the book is a children's story book (very nicely illustrated) from around 35 years ago and possibly older, as we were young teen agers at that time. The story is about a child and 3 dogs... The name of 2 of the dogs were "fetch me food", and "eat em up". Help, we're looking for this book for our grandchildren.

D353: Daffodil telephones, robins, squirrels
Book from the 1950s or earlier.  It's about springtime. Robins and squirrels talk to each other on daffodil telephones. There are also pussy willows in the story.  That's all I know.

D354: Deep in the forest
I am searching for a book I read as a child that matches exactly to another book stump request as follows:
"D51: Deep in the forest
I read the book somewhere between 1964 and '68. It was a small hardbound book with some lovely line illustrations. It was about a young girl who discovers a little cabin deep in the woods and sets up a "secret" home there. In the process she befriends the animals (bears, etc.) and they form a pseudo-family. I remember that the cabin was small - her size, so to speak which made the story that much more charming."
The responses provided on Loganberry (to date) did not solve this mystery.  However, I have been searching for this book for 20 years and this is the first time I've ever run across anyone else searching for it as well.  This is exactly the same book I'm looking for. The only thing I could possibly add would be that the illustrations were very fine indeed and would be in keeping with line drawings of the 40's or 50's (perhaps even older) – they certainly weren't contemporary 1960's illustrations.

D355: Dayton, Ohio, flood
The book I am seeking was set in Dayton, Ohio during a terrible flood.  The main character was a girl who wanted to be a writer, and she would go into her attic and write stories about the flood.  She called these "vignettes of the flood."  I thought the title was   "______in the attic" but I can't find any matches.

Promises in the Attic by Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood  (orig.c. 1960). This story of a young girl whose ambition is to become a famous author is set against the historical backdrop of the 1913 Miami River flood that devastated the city of Dayton, Ohio. the narrative involves the girl being trapped with her grandfather in the attic of their home as the flood waters destroy the city.

D356: Dog who cycles through foster homes
The book I'm looking for is about a dog who cycles through foster homes. I read it in the 1980s, but I don't know when it was originally published. This book follows a dog from puppyhood as it goes through a number of foster homes (four, I think) and is returned, abandoned, or escapes each until it finds its rightful home. One specific scene I remember is the puppy narrating his amazement at squishing a cooked pea on the tile floor of the kitchen.  (I think the owners come in soon after and are horrified by the mess the puppy has made, but I'm not sure if that happens.) One of the foster homes features a spoiled brat kid who makes the dog play submarine wars in the bathtub and tries to get the dog to play on a swingset at the park.  (The dog later runs away from this home.) Another foster home features a rich lady who clearly didn't know what she was getting into by getting a dog. I thought I had found this book when I picked up "Summerdog" by Thom Roberts, but that's not it. For a time in the book, I think the dog's name was Hobo.

D357: Donkey stranded on top of hill
Watercolor illustrations, childrens book. Farm family and their bethlehem donkey, girl feeds donkey apples thru kitchen window, it rains, floods, donkey trapped on top of hill, braying sadly, they take a boat over to where he's stranded to rescue him.





 
 
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3/14/13