Something Hidden in a Hat Box
"My fourth grade teacher read aloud to us. One book I think was called The Redwood Hat Box, about a family traveling to the West by wagon train. It seems like in the lining of the hat box was something that helped in the end: money, stocks, map, I forget what, but it saved the day. I think it was told by the girl of the family traveling."
Solution: The Secret of the Rosewood Box, by Helen Fuller Orton. Illustrated by Rober Ball. Lippincott, c1937. LC 37-28568. Went through at least 20 printings.
"When the King family journeyed westward from New York State to Michigan to make a new home, young Charley and his sister Mabel shared the fun and work and adventure of settling in the wilderness and helping it to become a place of homes and neighbors. From the first excitement of deciding to go, packing and setting out, the events and incidents of the story are always interesting. Charley took charge of Grandma's rosewood box on the long journey, but not even he knew all that it contained. When it was lost, his exciting and at last successful search for it was all the more rewarding after the secret came out." (from the jacket flap). Picture
Two Girls at Boarding School
"I am hoping [you] can shed some light on a book I read about 30 years ago (elementary school) and can't seem to get out of my mind. I remember that it is about two little girls going to boarding school. I think one was privileged and one wasn't. I do remember it involved a May Basket, a reflecting pool in the woods near the school and a really nice head mistress. I believe it ended with the teacher and the two girls walking away from the pool hand in hand. I have been racking my brain to come up with anything remotely close. I read this story in elementary school about 100 times and just loved it."
Solution: The Secret Language, by Ursula Nordstrom. Illustrated by Mary Chalmers. Harper & Row, c1960. LC 60-7701
"Victoria felt terribly lost and alone her first few days at boarding school. Then she met Martha, who taught her the secret language, and pretty soon Victoria had no time to be homesick. Martha didn't like boarding school either. In fact, Martha seemed to hate everything. 'I hate all the buildings and all the rooms, and the food, and I even hate the swings,' she told Victoria. It was going to be exciting to have a roommate like Martha! Who else would insist that they dress up as pistachio ice-cream cones for the Halloween party? Who else would decide to break the rules with a midnight feast?" (from the jacket flap). Picture
A King and His Friends
"Can anyone help me find this book? My boss is looking for it, but he doesn't remember what it is called. It is a picture book about a man who wants to marry the king's daughter. The king makes him do seven tests. The man has seven friends who help him with these tests. Each of the friends has magical power, such as turning into an animal or fire, water, etc. He recalls that the book had really great illustrations."
Another query: "It's about a king who wanted to reclaim his kingdom by passing a series of tests. Along his journey he meets up with guys who are a tree, an elephant, fire. His tasks were to eat a huge feast and drink all the wine. The elephant took care of the wine and the fire guy burned all the food. Then he had to get a golden egg or something out of a tall nest and used the tree to do it. I read the book in the U.S. For some reason, I think the title is The King and His 7 Friends but I Googled the title and none of the books are it."
Solution: The King With Six Friends, by Jay Williams. Illustrated by Imero Gobbato. Parents' Magazine Press, c1968. LC 68-21078 Picture
French Boy at School
"I think [the book was] called YOUNG NICHOLAS, about a young boy in France attending boarding school and calling the Headmaster 'Mr. Potato Head' because he was always saying 'Look me in the eyes.' It's a humorous book with pen and ink drawings."
Solution: Young Nicolas, by Jean-Jacques Sempe' and Rene Goscinny. Translated from the French Le Petit Nicolas by Stella Rodway. Bobbs-Merrill, 1962.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reversible Book About Grandmothers and Grandfathers
"I am trying to find out the name of a book that I saw a few years ago that probably isn't too old. It is a book about grandmothers and grandfathers. The different thing about the book is that it is reversible. On one side is the story about the grandmother. You turn the book over and there is the story of the grandfather - so the pages appear upside down from one another."
Solution: What Grandmas Do Best / What Grandpas Do Best, by Laura Numeroff. Illustrated by Lynne Munsinger. Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing, c2000. ISBN: 0-689-80552-7. This is a companion book to What Mommies Do Best / What Daddies Do Best.