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

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

Interpreting Condition  Grades

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

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

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

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

Interpreting Condition  Grades

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

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

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

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

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

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

Theodore Roosevelt Gardner, The Paper Dynasty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interpreting Condition  Grades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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