Books that Aunt Book Has Identified

Page 4

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Artist's Children Named After Colors
     “It was, I think, titled Saphie's Angel, but I am not sure. I do remember that the main character had been left something by either her grandfather or great-grandfather in his will. It was located in Italy, from which he was initially came, and so she traveled there with a new-found friend of hers whose name was Sarah, I believe, and she was in a wheelchair.   The mother of the main character was an artist and so she named all of her children after colors. For example, she named her oldest daughter Indigo, I think, and I think that Saphie's real name was Sapphire, or something like that. " 

Solution:  Saffy's Angel, by Hilary McKay.  Saffy's real name is Saffron.  Other books in the series are Indigo's Star, Forever Rose, and Caddy Ever After (Caddy is short for Cadmium).   
You can find information here:  http://www.amazon.com/Saffys-Angel-Hilary-McKay/dp/0689849346


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Minister's Daughter in New England at Blueberry Hill
    "Do you know an old children's book (I read it in 1951 or'52) called Blueberry Hill?  It's about the family of a Congregationalist (I suppose) minister in New England in the early-to-mid 19th century, and the main character is the oldest daughter, Becky.  All I can find under that title on Amazon is (1) part of a regional series, (2) cookbooks, and (3) a Fats Domino song."

Solution:  Blueberry Corners, by Lois Lenski.  1940.


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Mean Family That Eats Sticks
    "I have always wanted to find a book whose name I can't remember.  It was about a little family of creatures in the woods.  They were mean and snarly and they ate rocks and sticks.   One day the little kid creature found a warm fuzzy or something and came home and was nice to the mom and dad and then they were all very pleasant.  Could be from around the 1980's."

Solution:  The Little Brute Family, by Lillian and Russell Hoban.


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Horror Story Involving Red Moths or Butterflies and a Painting
    "From what I remember, the story I'm looking for is about a girl or woman who I think is for some reason cleaning an old building (a greenhouse or glass building maybe?).  She encounters a painting (a portrait, but I cannot remember whether it is of a person's face or if they maybe have their hands covering it) in this building, and every time she comes back, more seems to have been added to the painting even though no one else is there.
    "She also encounters a group of dark red moths or butterflies which seem to gather in a certain spot in the building, and the combined patterns on their wings seem to form a face.
    "In the end, the girl comes back to the building and the painting has completely changed, showing the person with head thrown back and the dark red moths covering the face.
    "I read this years ago in a compilation of short horror stories. Another story in the book was about giant, man-eating snails (I think it was "The Quest For the Blank Claveringi" by Patricia Highsmith), which also formed the basis of the book's cover, which showed a man running into the foreground with an enormous snail chasing after him."

    Solution:  Alfred Hitchcock's Supernatural Tales of Terror and Suspense.  The moth story is "Mr. Ash's Studio," by H. R. Wakefield.  It was in this book along with Highsmith's "Quest for the Blank Claveringi."  However, the cover with the giant snail chasing a man is the Sixth Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories, which features "Quest for the Blank Claveringi" but not "Mr. Ash's Studio."


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Frog or Mouse Lives in Teapot; Teapot-Shaped Book
    "When I was little, my favorite children's book was about a frog [maybe a mouse] who lived in a run-down teapot.  The book itself was also in the shape of a teapot and had amazing illustrations.  I'm not sure when it was published but it was early to mid-1990's when I had it in my possession.  Definitely not Frog and Toad Are Friends, by the way."

Solution:  Muffin Mouse's New House, by Lawrence Difiori.


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Book About Aunt in Russia
    "Book about aunt in Russia.  Believe the name of the book was Aunt Kiev."

Solution:  Aunt America, by Marie H. Block.  Set in Ukraine during Soviet times.  A little girl and her family are visited by her great-aunt from America.


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Colors of the Rainbow in the Peacock's Tail
    "The book has something to do with the colors of the rainbow that are in the peacock's tail. The book was read in Louisiana.  It taught children the colors of the rainbow.  It was a black hardcover with a peacock on it spreading its tail.  Some words from the book:  "purple peacock passing by;" "little fellows dressed in yellow."

Solution:  Seals on Wheels, by Dean Walley.  Hallmark, 1970.


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Girl Finds Boy In Underground Maze
    "I remember some key bits about the book.  I read it 6 years ago but the book was kind of beat up when I got it, so maybe it was older.  It was about this girl and I think she had to do this ritual thing where she went into this catacombs/labyrinth/maze underneath someplace and it was completely dark, so she remembered her way around by counting her footsteps.
    "I can't remember how it happened but a boy ending up living there (probably against his will because he needed the girl to help escape) and I think she went down there to give him food or just talk to him.  I don't remember anything until the end when they both get out and I think they have an illusion about food.  I don't remember the very end.
    "That's about as much as I remember, it might not be what I said, as a matter of fact, I'm not sure even if the girl was going down there for a ritual (I'm guessing she did because she went there everyday), or even if the catacombs/labyrinth/maze was actually under something or if stairs just went down to the entrance.
    "Also, I don't think it was an adult book.  It was in my elementary school library and it seemed to complicated for little kids but probably right for teenagers."

Solution:  The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. LeGuin.  It is the second book of the Earthsea Trilogy (to which, years later, a fourth book was added).  The other books are A Wizard of Earthsea, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu.    More information about the book can be found here: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tombs_of_Atuan


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Dragons Adopt Boy
    "I am looking for a particular children's book. It wasn't very long, and the plotline went thusly:  A young boy was in the "Olde World" kingdom, and for some reason was wandering through the woods when he found a dragon's cave.  I think the boy was an orphan and looking for a new home. In the cave was a dragon (obviously) and the dragon's wife.  They had old-sounding names.  I think they were called the Pendragons, and the wife insisted she be called 'née' something. The boy had a pet wolf that he had raised from a pup, when he found the pup's mother killed.
    "In one part, the dragon decided that the boy needed new clothes, so he rode the dragon and pretended he was taming it, so all the villagers were terrified and gave over all their clothes and things. Then, the dragon wife laid eggs, but none of them hatched. The boy stole one of the eggs and incubated it in a pile of old moss or something, until it hatched. Then he surprised his dragon adopters with a baby dragon girl."

Solution:  Dragon Boy, by Dick King-Smith.


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Family of Four Sisters and One Brother
    "I would like to find a children's book I read here in the U.S. back in the 'fifties.  i think it may have also been serialized in "Jack and Jill," or at least excerpted.  I read it in braille so cannot describe the book's appearance.
    "As I recall, there were four sisters and one brother.  The brother was Chris, and the sisters were Bonny, Debby, Emmy, and Althea.  Bonny was the youngest, maybe about four years old.  In one episode she was to little to skate on the ice, so her father and the other children carried her with them in a kitchen chair as they played.  She enjoyed it but still felt sad that she could not skate herself.
    "In another episode the father has all the children hunt for arrowheads, planning to give a prize for the best collection.  Bonny is almost attacked by a snake but older sister Althea is able to save her and wins a special prize.  I think the family may live in a cabin and perhaps in a cold climate."

Solution:  The Fairchild family series, by Rebecca Caudill.  Happy Little Family, Schoolhouse in the Woods, Up and Down the River, and Schoolroom in the Parlor.  At least some of the stories did appear in Jack and Jill; the May, 1950, issue had part of one of the stories and Bonnie and Debby were the paper doll insert for that month.  The books have recently been reprinted in paperback by Bethlehem Books.


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Clown Doll Missing His Heart
    "It' a book about two clown dolls who fall in love and such, and one of the clowns has to go away for some reason.  The other clown that was left there is all alone and depressed and takes out his heart (or he gave it to the other clown when she left, I don't remember).
    "If I had to try to remember the name of it I would say it's something like "The Tale of the Velvet Heart" (or Silk).  It had something to do with velvet, I think.
    "Also, this may be a short story or in a big book of short stories.  This book was read to someone I know when she was little (she is 15 now)."

Solution:  The Jewel Heart, by Barbara Berger.  Gemino is a clown doll who has a jewel for a heart.  When he falls in the woods and loses his jewel heart, Pavelle, the ballerina doll, tries to fix him, and plants a seed in his chest and waters it with her tears.


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Girl Buys Accordion for Birthday
    "I remember a children's picture book from the late 1980's or early 1990's that I read in the UK.  It was about a girl who lived with her Mother and Grandmother.  Every year they would save up money in a glass jar and the girl was allowed to spend it on her birthday. The girl goes shopping with her mother to choose her present, but she is very indecisive.  Each time she goes in a shop she picks an item and just as the shop assistant is wrapping it up she changes her mind and is not sure if that is what she really wants to spend all that money on for her birthday.  The presents she selects but never buys include new roller boots, camping gear, new clothes. She is sad that she hasn't chosen a present, but as they're making their way home the girl hears music.  They come across a man playing an accordion and finally the girl decides what she wants for her birthday:  an accordion! She buys it and is very happy with her purchase.
    "I can remember the last page in the book had a picture of the accordion on a little wooden stool by the girls bed."

Solution:  Something Special for Me, by Vera B. Williams.


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Very Old Soldier Still Alive Because of Moonshine
    "Published prior to 1963, popular in early 1960's for juveniles.   Reporters in the story hear rumors about an old soldier living in nearby hills, so they search for him. When they find him, he is not 100 years old as they first think, but 200+ years old and a Revolutionary War veteran.  The secret to his youth has something to do with the moonshine he drinks.
    "Patron thinks it's a one-word title, possibly the name of the soldier.  Cover could possibly have a man sitting in a tub pouring something over his head." 

Solution:  Joyleg, by Ward Moore and Avram Davidson.  Has been reprinted quite a few times over the years, including recently.


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Cricket, a Little Girl Who Lived Out West
    "When I was in fourth grade (I'm 56 years old), I checked out a chapter book....my first.  Our teacher said it was time for us to move from pictures books to the fiction section. (My, how times have changed).  I checked out the thickest one I could find. I'm positive the title was Cricket. The print was small and my Mother was upset with me for picking a book I couldn't possibly read on my own.  In anger she said she would read it until we had finished.  She was a first grade teacher.  Every evening she would read to me.  Little did she know that I loved it! 
    "The book was old then already and I haven't been able to find any mention of this book since. Of course the title doesn't help me in finding it.  Lots of cricket titles. I've checked the Library of Congress.  It's a book about a little girl whom her father calls Cricket.  He is a military man and they live on the desolate prairie of North Dakota.  Her mother is sickly and they have a hired woman who takes care of everything because the father is gone for long stretches of time.  They have adventures and I'm not sure if I get them mixed up with the Little House adventures (another of my favorites).
    "I think Cricket makes friends with an Indian man.  I can picture Cricket's house with a porch set alone on the prairie with the wind and dust blowing."

Solution:  Cricket:  A Little Girl of the Old West, by Forrestine Hooker.  There is also a sequel, Civilizing Cricket, and a book of the author's memoirs, Child of the Fighting Tenth.   Forrestine Hooker seems to have based the Cricket books on her own life.


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Choose Your Own Adventure Haunted House Book
    "This book I'm looking for is at a 10- to 12-year old reading level and likely printed in the early 1980's by Scholastic.  It is a Pick-a-Path / Pick-Your-Path / Which Way Secret Door book and the plot involves teen sleuths trying to solve a mystery at a neighborhood "haunted" house.
    "If I remember correctly, there is a black cat central to the story, as well as a mean old lady.  I believe the black cat was on the cover of the book.  I think the main character was a young boy who rode his bicycle quite a bit, and other kids were involved if you chose that path.  Some of the endings included the kids shrinking or turning into mice; maybe trapped in the cat's body?  Trapped inside the house?  There is a lot of evil in that house!"

Solution:  The Mystery of Chimney Rock, by Edward Packard, one of the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books.  It has been reissued ad The Curse of the Haunted Mansion.   Information about the book can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystery_of_Chimney_Rock
A picture of the cover is here:  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/edward-packard/mystery-of-chimney-rock.htm



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Young Boy, Man With Pet Chicken, Underwater Land
    "I am 33 now but when I was in middle school I read a book I really enjoyed.  I don't remember the name of it much less the author.  I can  remember only a few bits and places in it.  Here is what I think I remember about the story:  I remember that a young boy was the main character.  I remember a man with a pet chicken that either stayed on his head or under his hat, or maybe it was both.  I remember their both being on a city bus at one time and I remember their taking a small boat out in the ocean and diving under the water under an invisible force field shield and coming up in a strange land.  I think the inhabitants were lizard-like.  I remember some kind of cylinder-like thing the inhabitants sat in front of and I think they "watch" humans like we watch TV." 

Solution:  Lizard Music, by D. [Daniel] Manus Pinkwater.  Dodd, Mead, c1976.  Reprinted since then.


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Box Turtle and Cow
     "I read a book in elementary school about a farmer and his wife who discover a huge box turtle and rescue it.  The wife has a pet cow (who wanders!) and as part of the story they discover that the turtle was one that the farmer had found as a child, carving the date (or his initials) at the time into the turtle's shell.  As I recall, the farmer's wife puts honey on the turtle's shell (which is covered with a thick moss?) to get the cow to clean off the shell gently so they can see if it is the same turtle as the one from the farmer's youth."

Solution:  The Little Cow and the Turtle, by Meindert de Jong.  Harper, c1955. 

 
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Animals Keep Taking Things
    "There's a book I had in the early 1980's about a boy who kept having his things taken by animals.  Some of the only lines I can remember are 'Give me back my pants, you llama you!' and 'Give me back my tricycle, you tiger you!'  I'm pretty sure the llama ate the buttons off the jeans.  I'm afraid that's all I can remember about it.  I'd appreciate your help. Thanks!"

Solution:   What Do You Do With a Kangaroo, by Mercer Mayer.  Four Winds Press, c1973.  Reprinted since.  The child is a girl, rather than a boy. 


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Illustrated Adventure Puzzle Books
    "These books were nicely illustrated and had quite a dark theme.  They told stories in which the reader was cast as protagonist (though there was no 'fighting fantasy' choice element as in 'turn to page 10 to go North, turn to page 11 to go South.'  Each page featured some sort of puzzle(s) and there were common puzzle themes running through the book.  Often some sort of problem or cliffhanger would arise and there would be a question about how the character was going to proceed and overcome the problem.  When you turned the page you'd find out whether you had guessed the right solution.
    "One I recall as being about a run-down burlesque funfair, and some sort of evil plot involving poison gas hidden in light bulbs (one of the puzzles running through that book involved spotting the bulbs which contained the gas).  The other book, in the same series, had a fantasy setting and the
only puzzle I remember involved a question of where a character could hide having escaped from a castle into the surrounding moat, the answer being
that he should use some reeds to form a snorkel to breathe through.  My recollection is a fairly large format book.  I also remember the main character to be a small monkey or chimp."

Solution:  The Which Way? books, also known as Walker Gamebooks or Choose-Your-Way.  The specific  books are  The Funfair of Evil and The Castle of Fear, both by Patrick Burston, both published in 1986.  The British publisher was Walker; the US publisher was Candlewick Press.


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Purple Drink From Aliens Makes Boy Smarter
    "This kid gets a purple drink from aliens (I think) that makes him smarter. Which turns out to not be that great because his newly acquired intelligence alienates him from his fellow classmates."

Solution:  Brain Juice, by R. L. Stine.  A Goosebumps 2000 book.  Scholastic, 1998.


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On Other Side of Door, Good Food Tastes Bad and Bad Food Tastes Good
    "There's a door, someone goes through it. And on the other side food is reversed. Good food tastes bad and bad food tastes good. Ketchup tastes the best.
    "I'm sure there are other things reversed too."

Solution:  The Boy Who Reversed Himself, by William Sleator.   Dutton Juvenile, 1986.


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Trees In Scary Forest Give Boy Presents
    "I am desperately searching for a book from my childhood.  It was a picture book from the early to mid 1970's (at least that was when I read it).  It was about a little boy who was scared of the forest/woods.  He didn't like to walk through it.  One day he heard music and went in.  The trees were magic (or enchanted) and they each gave him something.  One tree gave him marbles, another gave him ice cream and I think there was a blue telephone tree." 

Solution:  The Haunted Forest, by G. Warren Schloat, Jr.  Knopf, 1961.  The Dear Niece who submitted this was able to identify it with help from someone else.


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Childless Woman Finds Tiny Little Babies
     "In the early 90's in elementary school I read a book about an older woman. She had no children, but one night she found these tiny little babies, I think in the snow. She brought them into her home and kept them in a dresser drawer for the to stay warm and sleep. I can't remember much else though. Thank you!"

Solution:  The Rainbabies, by Laura Krauss Melmed; illustrated by Jim Lamarche.   HarperCollins, 1992.  ISBN:  0688107559.


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Machine Gets Boy Ready in the Morning
    "When I was a girl I lived in Cherry Hill, NJ.  I attended Joyce Kilmer Elementary School.  I used to check this book out several times from the school library.  It was in 1980, 1981, 1982.  The book is about a boy who has a machine that gets him ready in the morning and evening.  It wakes him up, feeds him breakfast, gets him dressed, brushes his teeth, etc.  One day the machine goes haywire and puts his clothes on funny, etc." 

Solution:  Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead, by William Pene Du Bois.  Harper, 1966.


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Boy Watching Circus
    "I can't seem to remember the name of a book I had as a child in the 1980's and I really want to see if I can get it for my daughter.  The book was about a parade or a circus and I think the main character was a little boy watching it.  The illustration was wonderful.  There were acrobat monkeys in tutus, and men, women and children dressed in tight cat costumes doing acrobatics.   There were also women dressed in amazing animal outfits but I can't remember what they were. It look kind of like Cirque du Soleil."

Solution:   The Circus is Coming, by Hilary Knight.  Golden Press, 1978.  ISBN:  0307137376.  The Dear Niece who sent in the inquiry located the book herself.

 
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Popular Author is Brainwashing Children
    "In the book, there is an author who is very popular and who brainwashes the children reading her books, first causing a gummy worm fad to test her abilities.  Her ultimate goal is to get all the children in the world to forget how to read so that the older generation will be more powerful.
    "The name of the book has the (fictional) author's name in it, and then some phrase, I think.  The author's name is initials and a last name; I remember because I was unsure of her gender until the end where the protagonist meets her at the author's home in the woods.  I think she is a recluse.
    "They end up foiling her plot, although I am unsure of how.  I read it in the mid-1990's.

Solution:  The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine, by Diane Stanley.  HarperCollins, 2001.  ISBN:  0688175465.


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Mean Substitute Tames Wild Class
    "The library teacher used to read this book to my class back in the late 1980's or very early 1990's, so something from 1993 and on is definitely not it.  The story is about a school teacher who has a bratty class.  She takes a week off of school and a substitute comes into the class.  The sub is a mean old lady who gives out insane homework assignments and is strict with the students.  For one of the homework assignments, she orders the class to do over 200 pages of math problems, due the next day.  When the teacher returns to the class, the students are well-behaved because they are afraid that if they misbehave, the substitute will come back. At the end of the book, you see the teacher sitting in her house with the closet open a bit and in there you see the costume of the substitute, which means she wore the disguise and was the substitute all week. "

Solution:  Miss Nelson is Missing, by Harry Allard.  Illustrated by James Marshall.   Houghton Mifflin, 1977.   There are also two sequels:  Miss Nelson is Back (1982), and Miss Nelson Has a Field Day (1985).   The mean substitute's name is Miss Viola Swamp.


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Girl and Friend Run Away to Mexico
    "I am trying to remember the title and author of a book.  I would classify it a a young adult/teen girl lit.  It is a story about a girl who runs away and goes to Mexico with her friend, and they smuggle in their  Blazer.  It is not Go ask Alice or Tiger Eyes but is similar.  I don't remember the whole story but the themes are similar:  coming of age, runaway teen, drugs, etc.  I read it in the early 1980's."

Solution:  Kathleen, Please Come Home, by Scott O'Dell.  Houghton Mifflin, 1978.  A description of the book can be found here:  http://www.scottodell.com/books/kathleen.html


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Old Man Makes the Moon
    "When I was in kindergarten around 1992-3, my teacher used to read our class a book about a very old man.  He may or may not have lived in the forest.  Each day he would walk around outdoors collecting a glowing string or light, something like that.  At the end of the story he puts together the string and sends it up in the sky and it becomes the moon."

Solution:  Grandfather Twilight, by Barbara Helen Berger.   Philomel, 1984.   ISBN:  0399209964


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Picture Book About Different Kinds of Homes
    "I'm looking for a children's book that describes different types of homes or houses.  As I recall there is a young child who goes through the book looking at different types of homes.  The ones that I remember are a house on "stilts," a hut, and I think even the Taj Mahal was mentioned.  It is for younger children, ages 5-8."

Solution:  Come Over to My House, by Theo LeSieg (Theodor Geisel, or Dr. Seuss).   Illustrated by Richard Erdoes.  Random House (Beginner Books), 1966.  Some information and a picture of the book are here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_over_to_My_House


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Titanic Survivor, Time Travel
    "There are these two kids.  One of the kids (if not both; they could be brothers) has a relative who's old, and he was on the Titanic.  The elderly relative doesn't remember much. He's not really 'with it.'
    "Somehow they time travel onto the Titanic.  They even run into their relative, who of course is much younger."

Solution:  Back to the Titanic, by Beatrice Gormley.  Scholastic, 1994.   Information about the book can be found here:  http://www.beatricegormley.com/back_to_the__i_titanic__i___3015.htm


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Poetry Book for Boys
     "I'm looking for a poetry book for boys written in the '50's or '60's.  It may have been published by Scholastic.  The poems were kind of naughty, in a wholesome way.  One of the poems was 'Guess what I have in my pocket, Not a spaceship, not a rocket.  It's a one-way ticket to the moon, I'm going to send my brother soon.'  I'm wondering if the poet could be Jack Prelutsky or Shel Silverstein." 

Aunt Book has checked, and this is definitely not the book A Rocket in My Pocket, by Carl Withers. 

Solution:  Hooray for Chocolate and Other Easy-to-Read Jingles, by Lucia and James Hymes.  W. R. Scott, 1960.


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Brother and Sister with Bicycles; Father Is at Sea
"This story concerns a brother and sister whose father is in the navy and away at sea.  The mother is busy writing a novel, so they are left pretty much on their own.  When the mother is finished with the book, she gives the children bicycles and they go off to visit a friend, and are surprised and delighted by how short the distance is on the bikes versus walking.  In the end, the father comes home from his assignment.  It was definitely not a picture book; I don't even remember if there were any pictures at all.  There was another boy involved who lived a bit away (hence the appreciation of the bicycles).  It must have been in the early 60's when I read it." 

Solution:  Sea View Secret, by Elizabeth Kinsey.    Franklin Watts, 1952.  Reprinted by Scholastic in paperback.  Aunt Book believes this is the correct book, and thanks the Dear Nephew who suggested the solution, but has been unable to confirm this with the Dear Niece who submitted the original query.


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Kit That Builds a Magic World
     "I remember that the main characters, a boy and his sister, go to a store and the boy is drawn to this kit (I'm sure they used the word kit).  He spends all of his money on it (perhaps her money too?) and takes it home.  They build a castle and/or a city out of the 'blocks' within the magic kit, and soon the world they have built comes to life.  I think they are transported into the magic land and have adventures within it.  The kit was a magic kit, but not in a 'pull-a-rabbit-out-of-your-hat' kind of way.  I'm sure the kit contained magic building blocks or something of that sort.  This is NOT Edith Nesbit's Magic City." 

Solution:  Do It Yourself Magic, by Ruth Chew.  Scholastic, 1987.


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Dolls or Marionettes, One Named Lucinda
     "I am looking for a children's book I read as a child. I read it around the mid '70's, but it could have been published before that time, maybe in the '60's. There were these dolls, or they could have been marionettes, I'm  not sure.  They came to life when no one was around and there was a boy doll as well as girls.  One of the girls was named Lucinda. They had tea parties, and I remember their sitting on a table and having to get down from the table. I think this was a series of books or one huge book with a lot of their adventures.   They could have the name Moffett."

Solution:  The Muffletumps, by Jan Wahl.  Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966.  Thank you to the Dear Niece who provided this solution.


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Glass Pig
    "A little girl has a collection of glass animals, but the pig is special.  She takes it places with her and it is magical, somehow.  I read the book in the 1980's sometime but am not sure when it was published."

Solution:  Good-Bye, Pink Pig, by C. S. Adler.   Putnam, 1985.  There is a sequel, Help, Pink Pig (1990).


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Lonely Girl and Her Cat
    "When I was in third grade (in 1988-1989), my favorite book was about a lonely girl who wanted to be a prima ballerina.  I can't remember the details now, but she was given or found a cat and she gave it a bow with a bell on it.  At the end of the book, the cat has been dead for some time and the girl is now a prima ballerina.  Before she goes onstage for what I think was her first performance she remembers her cat and hears the bell it used to wear.  This book was part of my school's library and was a paperback that was not new when I read it. I believe the story was set at the end of the 1800s or the early 1900s. Please help me find this book so I can now share it with my daughters."

Solution:  Jenny Lind and Her Listening Cat, by Frances Cavanah.   Vanguard Press, 1961.  It was reprinted as a Scholastic paperback, a picture of which can be found at this fascinating site:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jl-incrowd/2454496353/ . Jenny Lind was not a ballerina but a singer, one of the most famous in history. 


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Girl and Snails
    "I read these books about 18 years ago or so (early 1990's), and my mother bought them at a military store called Stars and Stripes.  There are three books I can remember and I think they were big oversized books with hardback red covers.  They were about a little girl.  In one book, she goes out with a younger sibling, I'm not sure if it was a sister or brother, and they go into a garden of lettuce or cabbages after the rain.  When they come back in they take off their boots and coats and start to draw or paint and suddenly snails start crawling everywhere.  Another story has the little girl not wanting to eat her dinner because it looks nasty and she says she doesn't like it even though she's never had it and she makes a face at the sibling who is eating the food.  I think the last story is about bath time, or maybe potty training, but it's foggy from then on.  I'm pretty sure they're all about the same girl, but there is a chance that only the last two about the same girl and the first story about the snails is unrelated."

Solution:  The Emily books by Domitille de Pressence.  They were published by Checkerboard Press, translated from the French.  The series includes Emily and the Snails (1992), Emily Won't Take a Bath (1992), Emily Won't Eat (1992), and  Emily Wet the Bed! (1992). 



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Asian Boy With Long Name
    "I remember reading a book when I was a kid with my parents.  It was about a Japanese (or at least Asian) boy with a crazy long name,  something like: Nicinicitumbonosarambotamiyaguchitaganyou.  The cover was blue, with line drawings.  I think that the boy falls into a well.  Mostly I remember the long name. "

Solution:  Tikki Tikki Tembo, by Arlene Mosel; illustrated by Blair Lent.  Holt, 1968.  A retelling of a Chinese folk tale.  Scholastic reprinted it in paperback.


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Mysterious Doll in the Window of a Store
    "The next book is a juvenile mystery book about a doll in the window of a store.  A girl sees this mysterious doll (or statue) in the window of a
shop.  I thought it was perhaps Phyllis A. Whitney or Catherine Woolley but nothing I find seems to fit."

Solution:  The Mystery of the Silent Friends, by Robin Gottlieb; illustrated by Al Brule.   Funk and Wagnalls, 1964.  Scholastic reprinted it in paperback, and a picture of the cover can be found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jl-incrowd/2491522812/in/set-72157601903080963/


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Blue Nosed Gnome
    "I live in the United States of America.  I can read books only in English.  I'm looking for a book that I had read when I was a little boy back in the 1970's or possibly the very early 1980's.  It's about a Gnome who lived in one of the coldest places on earth (Alaska or Antarctica).  All the Gnome had to keep him company was his cold blue nose, until he heard a noise or saw something oddly different.  It was an otter.  They become the best of friends whose friendship keeps them warm or at least they don't notice the cold any longer.  The Gnome's cold blue nose was possibly not blue or as cold any longer either.  This book was also color illustrated.  The otter was also wearing (or given) a scarf to wear.  Possibly, they shared the scarf together."

Solution:  The Gnome from Nome, by Stephen Cosgrove.   Serendipity Press, 1974. 


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Woman Gets Her Many Children from a Plant
     "I read this book in the early 1970's.  It's about a woman with a lot of children that she gets from this plant in her backyard.  Maybe a roanoke?"

Solution:  Mrs. Purdy's Children, by Ruth Loomis, illustrated by Stephen Kellogg.  Dial, 1970.


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Figurine Dog Named Gloria
     "As a young child in preschool in the late 1960's or early 1970's, I vaguely remember the teacher reading a book to us.  I believe that it was a chapter book because it seemed that she read some out of this book every day.  I was living in Fort Smith, Arkansas at this time.  All I can remember about this book is that it involved a dog named Gloria.  It seems that Gloria was a figurine until the little girl came around her and then she would come to life.  I hope you can help; this book has been bothering me for most of my life."

Solution:  No Flying in the House, by Betty Brock, illustrated by Wallace Tripp.  Harper & Row, 1970.


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Clubhouse in the Attic of an Old House
     "The book I am trying to remember is about two young children who make an old house attic into their very own clubhouse.  It also takes place near a bog, and I am almost positive an elderly woman is one of the characters in the book, too. I thought that the two children's names were Caleb and Anna, but those are the names of the children in Sarah, Plain and Tall, and I know that is not the book I am looking for.  Can you help?"

Solution:  Gone-Away Lake, by Elizabeth Enright; illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush.   Harcourt, 1957.  There is a sequel, Return to Gone-Away (1961).  The children in question are Portia and her cousin Julian.  Other characters are Portia's little brother Foster, and the elderly woman, Minnehaha Cheever, and her brother, Pindar Payton.


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Little Boy in Taxco, Mexico
    "I'm trying to find the name of a children's book about a little boy in Taxco, Mexico.  All I remember is that he had a mule and was very poor, and the descriptions of hilly Taxco and the silver trade there were enough to make me want to vacation there this year (some 50 years after reading the book; I must have been 8-10 when I read it)."

Solution:  Pico and the Silver Mountain, by Margaret Phelps; illustrated by Ann Eshner.  Macrae-Smith, 1942.


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Boy With a Crayon
    "Around 1975-1980 my family had a story book about a little boy with no hair.  I think that  maybe he was just wearing a nappy but I may be wrong.  The pictures were not coloured in, just black and white lines.  I  remember it was a simple round face boy with a crayon.  This story book had no words from what I can remember just good pictures.  As the boy went from page to page he draw his environment as he went.  He drew the coast  with cliffs and he was like a giant wading  through the ocean, even passing a ship, drawing steps as he climbs up,  and I think there were mountains in the story.  The book was at least 10 pages long if not more."

Solution:  Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson.  Harper, 1955.  Information about the series of books about this character is here:  http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/purple/books/harold.html


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Polar Bear Cub Falls Into Black Paint
    "This book is from the early 1960's or before.  A family of white (polar) bears.  One baby bear falls in black paint. Bears' names are Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe, and Nig."

    Another Dear Niece wrote to say, "I think this may have been a 1960's Golden Book about five black bears that decided they wanted to be polar bears, so they painted themselves white.  After being caught by a zookeeper, they end up being caged and chased, and then one by one they fall into some icy water where all the paint washes off and they become themselves again.  It was a really cute and well-illustrated book and I would like to know if it is still available somewhere."

    Yet another Dear Niece wrote to say, "The book you are looking for is called The Five Busy Bears.  I have been looking for this book forever! My dad has a copy from the early '50's, before the names were changed to Tipsy, Flippsy, and a bunch of silly names that rhyme with those.  I don't think they changed the title when they changed the names, but they might have."

Solution:  The Five Little Bears, by Sterling North.  Illustrated by Clarence Biers and Hazel Frazee.  Rand McNally, 1935.  Re-illustrated and reissued in 1935 as The Five Busy Bears, illustrated by Jean Tamburine, as a Little Elf Book.


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