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New Stumpers

What is this?

Have you forgotten the title of your favorite children's book? This is a service to help solve your book mysteries.

Submit your memory here, and see if anyone else remembers your book memory, or better yet, knows the title and author! After all, it's easier to find the book when you know what it's called.

I'll post copies for sale when I have them, and am always glad to search for copies not currently in stock. Loganberry Books is a used bookshop after all, and this page is only a small sideline offered as a service to my customers.

Original requests are in bold,
comments and solutions
from internet friends are in color.
My comments (HRL/staff) are in black.

How does this work?

Book Stumpers should be submitted by clicking the "Book Stumper" link below. Stumpers cost $2 to submit, and will be posted alphabetically by Keycode until solved. New Stumpers will be on this page for at least four weeks, and are then moved to the archive pages. Once solved, the posting moves to the Solved Mysteries pages, alphabetical by title. New comments and stumpers are posted on Mondays and/or Tuesdays, and whenever else time permits. The tallies do not reflect solutions made by simply browsing the archives or asking what we deem an "easy question" rather than a "stumper."

The 2003 Tally
1192 Stumpers posted; 744 (62%) Solved
The 2004 Tally
527 Stumpers posted; 395 (75%) Solved
The 2005 Tally
902 Stumpers posted; 499 (55%) Solved
The 2006 Tally
858 Stumpers posted; 401 (46%) Solved
The 2007 Tally
853 Stumpers posted; 409 (48%) Solved
The 2008 Tally
691 Stumpers posted; 229 Solved (33%) Solved

Updates

Here is Joy's second update to this page, complete with comments and new stumpers.

Next week is extremely busy, as I call all hands on deck to help organize the Larchmere Flea Market & Festival. We'll be back to our usual scheduling the first week of July.

Want to be notified when new stumpers are posted?
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posted 5/4/09
posted 5/11/09
posted 5/18/09
posted 5/26/09
posted 6/1/09
posted 6/11/09 posted 6/11/09
posted 6/16/09

The 2009 Tally

216 Stumpers posted
43 Moved to Solved

last updated
6/17/09

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A402: Adventures of the Wing Ding Dilly
Juvenile Literature/Chapter book. Perhaps a few sketches throughout. Probably a map in the early pictures. Book about kid or kids that enter a fantastical land. In this land there is an endangered creature called a Wing Ding Dilly or a Wang Dang Doodle. The kids travel through the land (that's why I think I remember and the map). I think they were trying to save the creature and it was very special. Don't know author, title other than the wings and wangs and dings and doodles. Book was very popular in my middle school in 1983-1986.

B682: Boy's magic sketches come to life
Solved: The Magical Drawings of Moony B. Finch
early 80's?, childrens. I'm trying surprise a friend with a book. He described it to me briefly, so apologies for the secondhand recap: A boy discovers that anything he draws? etch-a-sketches? comes to life. When the local people discover this talent, they greedily ask him to draw them things. When he gets fed up with their requests he draws a dragon? monster? that he throws into the air and everyone instinctively runs after it thinking it is another prize, until they realize the truth and run away. Thanks!

David McPhail, The Magical Drawings of Moony B. Finch. A young boy who can make drawings come to life is assailed by people in a park asking for drawings of gold, jewels, etc. When it gets too much, he draws a dragon that makes them all run away. Finally , he takes out his "just in case" eraser and erases away all the scary parts of the dragon (the big teeth, etc) until it is the perfect pet.
Not sure about this one, it sounds like a Chinese tale I'd heard, where the boy, young man? is summoned to paint for the Emperor. Two different sources, so I can't be sure which, if either, is right. In one, the boy paints a flood which fills the Imperial palace, drowning the cruel Emperor, in the other, he not only floods the palace but paints a boat he escapes in. Hope this helps.
Sounds a bit like Ma Lien and the Magic Paintbrush, but the ending is a bit different.
Demi, Liang And The Magic Paintbrush. It sounds like you are looking for a version of the Chinese folk tale, "The Magic Paintbrush" (also published as "Liang And The Magic Paintbrush" or "Ma Lien And The Magic Paintbrush.") There are many versions of this story, but given your estimated publication date of early 80's, I'd suggest "Liang and the Magic Paintbrush," A Reading Rainbow Book by Demi (1980, reissued 1988). You could also try "The Magic Paintbrush," a Ladybird Book by Fran Hunia (1979). Ladybird is a UK publisher, so if your friend grew up in the US, the Demi book is probably a better bet.
Luckily, I remembered reading this in the July 1978 issue of Cricket, so I checked again. It's The Magical Drawings of Moony B. Finch, by David McPhail.
David McPhail, The Magical Drawings of Moony B. Finch. Thank you! It's confirmed that this is the one!

B683: Boy swims super fast in pool
I remember a book where a boy somehow swims very fast in a pool race very possibly thanks to an alien of some sort. That's all I remember. Thanks.

The only thing I can think of is a film I saw on the Disney channel, where the boy not only becomes a great swimmer, but starts growing fins on his hands and feet. Turns out his real mother is a mermaid, who'd left him in infancy with his landbound parents to protect him from fishermen. The boy's changes seem due to his reaching age 13. Hope this helps.
Beatrice Gormley. I don't have a specific suggestion for you, but this book sounds like it could have been written by Beatrice Gormley, who wrote books about ordinary kids who get involved sometimes with magic and sometimes with aliens. I don't know if that helps!
The Thirteenth Year. The answer to B683 request is The Thirteenth Year. But I don't know the author.

B684: Boy goes back 100 years & sails with buccaneers
A boy goes into a Nantucket (?) bookstore, - no one is there. He goes through the store and out the open back door, and steps back 100 years. He is impessed into service on a buccaneer ship and goes on a journey. He gets reprimanded by the captian with a whip with a stingray barb on the end, leaving a cut on his cheek. He gets back to Nantucket, the bookstore, and present times - with a scar still on his cheek. I would like to find this book for my boy. Any clue?

BTW - I read this book in about 1963.
Carley Dawson, Mr. Wicker's Window, 1952, copyright. Possibly this one. I read it quite a while ago but remember it involved time travel and the hero being on a ship.
I read this book and loved it, but all I can remember was that the illustrations were by Lynd Ward, and the title had "Mr." in it. According to Something about the Author, it's probably "Mr. Wicker's Window" by Carly Dawson. (Actually, they have "*Mrs.* Wicker's Window", but that title sounds right.) I hope this is right! good luck!
Dawson, Carley, Mr. Wickers Window 1963, copyright. This is absolutely Mr. Wickers Window. Its not a bookshop but a junkshop, but the detail about the scar pins it down.

Carley Dawson, Mr. Wicker'\''s Window 1952, copyright. Oh, my! This is it!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Seeing a possible solution for a 50-yr puzzle almost brought a tear to my eye. Seeing that it is the solution left me humbled and thankful. I will re-read it, and then pass it on to my boys for them to enjoy. Thank you for all your help!

B685: Ballet lessons in Paris
Book about girl who takes ballet lessons in Paris while visiting a relative, possibly aunt. 1960's, possibly Betty Cavanna but can't find on any list.

Betty Cavanna, Stars in Her Eyes, 1960, approximate. As I recall, the main character, Magda, goes to Paris for a semester, takes ballet and really gets whipped into tip top shape.
Eunice Smith, Jennifer Dances, 1954, copyright. This is a possibility. While Jennifer doesn't go to Paris, she does leaves the family farm to live with her Aunt Lobelia in Chicago. While she is there she goes to ballet school, at the Madame Lubescheski School of the Dance. She learns to dance and even choreographs her own ballet about the wind.
Jean Estoril, Drina Dances in Paris, 1990, copyright. Your description is brief so it is hard to say but perhaps the book you are looking for is this one. "Some members of the Dominick School act, dance and sing in the play 'The Land Before Christmas'. Drina's ballet she made in New York is danced at the Dominick Matinee. Christine Gifford is expelled from the Dominick School after being caught bullying some of the Juniors and Drina. Drina and Rose are asked to go to Paris to dance in The Nutcracker once again after the dancer playing 'Little Clara' is injured. Grant shows up in Paris."

B686: Boy builds houses for sequence of ever larger pets
70's or earlier book about a boy w/ a pet guinea pig. He builds a house for the GP, then gets a sequence of ever larger pets (turtle, rabbit, dog, goat, ... horse), and puts an addition on the house for each. It was illustrated with b/w photos at each stage.

Helen Palmer, Why I Built the Boogle House, 1964, copyright. Helen Palmer did several Beginner Books illustrated with photographs, and this was one of them.
Palmer, Helen, Why I Built the Boogle House, 1964. This is the one!
Helen Palmer, Why I Built the Boogle House, 1964, copyright. I remember this because it was my brother's favorite book.
I remember this, it sounds a lot like How I Built a Boggle (Boogle?) House. The boy in question builds and modifies a house for his various pets, a turtle, a duck, a kitten, a dog, etc, only to have various problems with each, they run away, or get fleas, or aren't allowed, and so on. Finally the boy builds an elaborate house for a Boogle or Boggle, a pet that won't cause any trouble at all. Hope this helps.
Why I Built the Boogle House. I also loved this book as a child and found it for my son recently. It is definitely the one the searcher is looking for because it is illustrated with black and white photos, which is very uncommon.

B687: Boy who dreams of dog
1960's. Illustrated children's book with black and white drawings. A little boy is befriended by a talking dog. Together, they go on a strange journey that feels, in hindsight, like they are on a journey to Heaven. Strange and wonderful friendship with this talking dog. I even remember a moment in the book when the dog tells the boy that he's got to face the final leg of the journey (whatever that is) on his own, without the dog. It's revealed to be a dream and he wakes up to find he's been given a brand new puppy. A very emotional book.

C606: children solving a mystery
Solved: Secret Agents Four
The book I am looking for is from the 70's. It was about a group of children solving a mystery. There was something about an island or place walled up they had to get in. They had to solve it quickly because the bad guys were going to poison the water supply and they made it there just in time.

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

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

Enid Blyton, Circus of Adventure. Could you be thinking of the Adventure series? Four children (and a cockatoo) got on a series of adventures around the world. There is a Circus of Adventure title.
Arthur Calder Marshall, The Fair to Middling 1959, copyright. I think this is the solution, the children, orphans I seem to recall all go to the fair and experience something personal to each of them, which changes the way they think. One I remember was a colour blind girl with auburn hair, who was able to see what the colour was. It was not a conventional plot.
Arthur Calder Marshall, The Fair to Middling 1959. I am pretty sure this is the one.

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

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

D312: Dit and Mar
Read 4th grade in 1962. Had two characters, Dit and Mar, involved in some type of adventure. Seems like a British book. They refer to eating from tins and there is a glade. I think there was a stone house. There may have been a waterfall. Sounds like Enid Blyton but names are wrong.

D313: Dollhouse and/or snow globe children's picture book
A children's picture book published before 1993 that has a theme of either a dollhouse or snow globe...looking inside the house or the globe. I don't know if these are 2 separate books, or if they are the same. Can you help?

E143: English translation of russian book: Burn, Burn, My Star: How to Sing
Book on Opera Singing by famous singer Boris Shtokolov. Title translated by Wikipedia as "Burn, Burn, My Star: How to Sing." Found the Russian version on Worldcat: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40354430 . Looking for an English translation.

E144: Evil siblings, young adult novel, 70's or 80's, horror
Teen lives next door to four siblings, youngest is evil, older ones seem weird but Cat is his friend - discovers the parents experimented to try to get evil kid, each more succesful than last but Cat is second youngest.

F347: Fairy tale anthology, small round picture of little red riding hood in center of cover
I owned ths book in the early 90's, and the stories I recall it having are Beauty and the Beast, Rumpelstiltskin, Toads and Diamonds (possibly under another name, such as "The fairies"), The Twelve Dancing Princesses, possibly The Little Match Girl and The Frog Prince. It had red binding, no slipcover (?), small round picture of little red riding hood in center of cover. Thanks for any help!

Grimm, Fairy Tales. This could be the Everyman's Library edition of "Fairy Tales" by the Grimms; it has a green binding and square picture but otherwise matches: http://preview.tinyurl.com/q73j89.

F348: Fairytale anthology, 1974-6 two volumes, glossy, oversized, hardcover
Somewhere between 1974-6, my parents ordered a fairytale collection from (I think) a children's book club/mail-order publishing company. The 2 volumes of classic fairy tales/Grimm's tales had identical covers: glossy, w/ white background, the book title in red/pink lettering, and a large grey castle in the foreground. Illustrations were in color, very life-like, almost (but not quite) like Maxwell Parrish's illustrations (very ethereal, dream-like settings). Book pages were smooth, thick-weight paper with almost a glossy sheen to them. I've read all the other stumpers & solved mysteries & looked up respective links, but have had no luck. Thanks for any suggestions!

F349: Fairy turns little girl into flower
Picture book about a little girl who wishes for a fairy to turn her into a flower. She becomes a flower, realizes that she doesn't like it, and protects the fairy from a rain storm with her petals so he will turn her back into a girl.

F350: Fuzzy/Furry/Feathered
Small, fuzzy/furry/feathered creature in 1970's young illustrated children's book. Ends with picture of this creature going to sleep in the window (or window shade pull) of the child's bedroom. He's a companion to the child & helps the child. Title of book is this ceatures name and is light brown...

F351: Fairy Girl
About a girl who lived with her parents, but they lived in the woods and "turned" into fairys, but it was all a drug induced world. They drank some potion to be there. I think she wanted to save someone from them.. maybe her sister.

F352: Family Builds Home from Eggs
Childrens book: boy helps hurt bird, bird repays by having mother lay giant egg. Family cooks and sells scrambled egg and uses money to build home inside the now-empty egg shell.

F353: Little Girl in French Revolution, My Copy Published 1970s
Front cover was a girl leaning out of a window of a tall building with shutters on the windows. The story was set in the French Revolution. I seem to remember the cover being yellow &white/pale colours. The copy i had was prob published 1970s.

G524: Grandma (who is very resouceful) comes to live with family
Solved: Best Friend
1960's, childrens. This is a story about a girl whose Mother is deceased. Her Dad's Mother comes to live with her and her family, and the girl is ashamed of her grandmother at first. One of her friends even makes fun of her grandmother. Her grandmother is very smart and resourceful and she is always helping others. The girl has a falling out with a girlfriend at school. Her grandmother helps her to make new friends, a Jewish girl named Ruth, and a Chinese girl named Betty Lee. There is also another girl named Jean Marie in the book, plus a teacher named Mr. Ellison. The kids in the school do an "Alice in Wonderland" play in the story, too. Read this book when I was 10 or 11. Can't recall the name or the author.

Shirley Simon, Best Friend, early 1960s, approximate. This is the book you're looking for because you pretty much have all of the details and names right. It was one of my favorite books growing up.
Shirley Simon, Best Friend, 1964, copyright. Jenny Jason's best friend, Dot, moves from their apartment building to a different one, the Essex Arms. Unfortunately, the Essex Arms comes equipped with a group of snobbish girls who invite Dot to join their Thursday Club and to attend Charm School. When Dot becomes involved with them, Jenny has to make new friends. Ruth Kaplan, the librarian's niece, is one. Betty Lee, whose family owns a Chinese restaurant, is another. Jenny works on a marionette play about Alice in Wonderland. At length, Dot wants to be best friends with Jenny again, but Jenny doesn't want to be her shadow any longer, and wants to keep her other friends.
Simon, Shirley, Best Friend, 1964, copyright. This is definitely the book, I had the paperback and read it many times. It's funny what we remember about a book-- Mr. Ellison was a turtle in the story named after a favorite teacher but we never met the teacher in the book.
Shirley Simon, Best Friend, 1964, copyright. Yes! This is definitely the book! I ordered it and received it over the weekend. Thanks to all who helped!

G525: Girl lives in Florida (keys) and gets caught in a hurricane with her girlfriend
1960's, childrens. This is a story about a girl who lives in Florida, probably off one of the keys. Her family is poor, and she tries to help make money by finding and selling driftwood. A new family moves into her neighborhood. The new family has a young girl the same age, and the two girls become friends. The new family is poor, and the girl shows the new girl how to find driftwood to sell. The two girls get in an argument about who found a bunch of driftwood first. They get caught in a Hurricane together and then realize how silly their argument was. Enjoyed the book as a young girl. Would like to see it again.

Dorothy Ball, Hurricane: The Story of a Friendship, 1964, copyright. I wasn't able to find a description of this anywhere, but the title sounds like a possibility!
I purchased a used copy of Hurricane: The Story of a Friendship, 1964, copyright, but that isn't the story I was looking for. In Hurricane, The Story of a Friendship, the main characters are boys, one black and one white. It looks interesting, but unfortunately, it's not the book. Two young girls are the main characters in the book that I am looking for. I'll keep looking. Thanks for trying.
The first author I thought of when I read this was Marjory Hall. I can'\''t find a specific title that matched the description, but it's a long time since I read it!

G526: good flowers and an evil candle-snuffer
1940's possibly, childrens. This was a story from my father's childhood. I believe it came from treasury collection. It was about flowers that come to life in a house and a candle-snuffer comes to life and tries to catch them.

G527: Girl sells greeting cards to keep horse
Girl's family moves and finds abandoned horse in barn. There is some type of school carnival where she uses the horse to take pictures. Girl's name may be Libby. Book is possibly from late 60's. I would appreciate help finding this book.

Woolley, Catherine, Look Alive, Libby! 1962, copyright. I don't remember the details of this book since I read it so many years ago, but it's about a girl named Libby who visits Cape Cod for the summer.
Catherine Woolley, Look Alive Libby!1964, approximate. Definitely not the right book. Libby learns to love Cape Cod when she stays at her aunts house for the summer. The plot revolves around her learning to be resourceful and independent as she makes new friends and appreciates her natural surroundings.
Pamela Reynolds, Horseshoe Hill 1965, copyright. The book youre looking for is Horseshoe Hill by Pamela Reynolds...heres a bit from the dj flap: "That first night on Horseshoe Hill, Tibby thought she saw something moving in the stable behind the house. The "something" turned out to be Warlord, an unwanted old horse, skinny and unkempt, left behind by the former owner who could find no buyer for him." The picture taking incident you describe takes place at a school fair.

G528: Garden, girl, pond, school, grandfather
1920-1945, childrens. I once owned this book but can't remember the name or author. It was green hardcover and about and inch or two thick 6 x 8 book. I remember the young girl felt alone and would stop at pond in the woods on her way home from school.

G529: Golden Book, summertime
1955, childrens. The book was in the Golden Book series, I think published by Simon & Schuster back then. It probaby had to do with summertime or going on vacation. The last page had an illustration of a child jumping into the water from a pier.

Elsa Ruth Nast, Fun with Decals: 1952, copyright. The description of the child jumping off the pier definitely matches. The family is on vacation, waiting for rain to stop, and then they all put on their bathing suits and jump in the lake at the end. The decals are a huge part of the story though, so maybe this is not the book youre looking for. There is a Little Golden Book titled Summer Vacation, but it wasnt published till the 1980s and the last page does not match your description at all.

G530: Girl Finds Cave, Rides Bicycle, Loses Weight
Book about an overweight girl with beautiful older sisters who discovers a cave (or beach??) one summer and rides her bike there every day. By the end of the summer she's thin from riding her bike so much.

H258: hedgehogs on a night train
1970's-early80's, childrens. There was a book I loved as a child that had young animals (i.e. hedgehogs, rabbits, etc) dressed in pajamas and I think it was bedtime and they were going on a train (possibly called the "moonlight express" or "midnight express"). I also remember them eating in a diner or something to that effect. My brother and I had another book by the same author and with the same characters so I could very well be mixing the two stories up in my head. I remember the hardcover books having softly colored pictures. I would love to find either of these books for my daughter.

I144: Island fog mystery romance
This book was a paperback romance mystery from the 70s. It was about a man who lived on a very foggy island. The heroine comes to the island (to work for him?) and falls in love. I thought the name was Island of Fog. I found a Myra Kingsbury title, but I can't find a description of that story.

Myra Kingsbury, Island of Fog 1974. I have a copy. Ann, (recently orphaned and struggling to pay for college) lands a dream job caring for the two children of a famous Norwegian cancer research scientist. The island has numerous "booby traps" a pond, quicksand,plot holes, a rickety fence hugging a cliff, a blowhole...oh, and a murderer (or two). Is it the thuggish, mute caretaker? The housekeeper? The doctors oh-so-charming half brother? Or the other 3 scientists sharing the cold castle? And is there a woman locked in the tower? Will the doctor ever approve of Anns hemlines and low-cut dresses?

J92: jester
Book I got in 1980s, don't know date of publication. Red canvas cover, approx 8.5" x 11" dimensions, pale watercolor / simple line drawings illustrations, mostly pale blues and reds. Story was of a poor jester or harlequin who traveled across "the land" to make a princess laugh? His clothing had diamond pattern (typical jester). He made lots of friends along the way, may have been animals. In the end I think he married the princess and was bequeathed the kingdom. The pages were fairly heavy and glossy and had a distinct smell, like a print shop!

Jules Feiffer , A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears 1995, copyright. Despite the obvious date difference, could this be it? They have similar-sounding plots (man travels across land to find princess has to do with laughing). The illustrations in this book are quite charming but I don'\''t recall a red canvas cover. Hope this helps!

J93: Jackson Hole WY, romance novel, time travel
Looking for a romance novel I read in the 90's. 1993 or 94. Named my son after the hero, Colton. Contemporary setting. Jackson Hole WY. A woman who is a travel agent travels back in time to early Jackson Hole by touching a multi-colored rose under a tree on the mountainside.

Bonita Clifton, Time of the Rose, 1994, copyright. Maybe - the summary I found says: "Beautiful Madison Calloway follows an old man into a violent thunderstorm and travels back in time to the Old West, where she captures the heart of Colton Chase, a notorious gunslinger."

L253: Little Girl is Late to a Birthday Party - Learns to be on time, etc.
Collection of stories from 30's-50's? about a little girl who learns to be respectful of others. In one story she is half hour late to a b-day party so her mother makes her leave a half hour before the party is over. Also, in the very early a.m. she is sent to the yard to garden & sees a little bird.

L254: Little girl loses sock at laundromat
Solved: The Big Enough Helper
It's a childhood favorite about a little girl who goes to the laundromat with her mother and gets to help with the laundry and stuff. She realizes she's lost a sock in the process. She spends all day wondering what happened to it. 70's- 80's childrens book, maybe with the word "red" in title.

Nancy Hall, The Big Enough Helper, 1978, approximate. I'm pretty sure I found it! It's the "Big Enough Helper", by Nancy Hall. I knew it had something to do with red...the guy that she helped had red hair!

L255: A Light from Heaven
A small boy and his mother strive to love Jesus in spite of the father's un Christian like behavior. The boy is afraid of the dark and the mother puts a picture of Jesus above his bed. the mother and child are not allowed to go to church due to their ragged clothing but the father. I believe the name of the book was "A Light from Heaven" set in 1930/40 in America. About a young boy and his mother and the love they share for each other and Jesus. The cover was light blue with the boy standing.

L256: Lighthouse where a woman gets shipwrecked with a gruff lightkeeper.
Christian Fiction. I was 12, so it was published before 1995. Most likely 70s or 80s. I think the woman's name was Katherine, but I'm not sure. I think she was pregnant. It's not Eugenia Price's Lighthouse, Nicola Beaumont's The Lighthouse, or Susan Wiggs' The Lightkeeper (similar to this one).

M568: Melody Lane
Melody Lane, heroine. Garth, hero. Approximate date of publication, 1940's. Author MAY have been Grace Livingston Hill. Melody Lane arrived mysteriously at an orphanage as a baby. Garth, 5, looked down at her and said, "When I grow up I'm going to marry her." Following life's trials they marry.
Extended description: I had the privilege of suggesting a name for my baby sister and my mother accepted it! That was in 1959. My sister will be 50 at the end of the month. I'd love to be able to give her a copy of the book from which I got her name. However, I don't remember the title or the author. The heroine was Melody Lane. She arrived at an orphanage as a baby. They named her after the street they lived on, I think. A 5-year-old, named Garth, leaned over her basket and said, "When I grow up I'm going to marry her." He did marry her when he grew up. However, this was after Melody Lane experienced a number of trials and tribulations in the city where she had gone to "spread her wings." I wonder if anyone has heard of this book. It was old even in 1959.

Lilian Garis, Melody Lane Mystery Series, 1930s, approximate. There was a series of mysteries called the Melody Lane mystery series. I'm wondering if this is where the name came from although the remembered story line doesn't fit.

M569: Mouse named Lady Greensleeves who solved mysteries
The story involved a little mouse named Lady Greensleeves who, with her maid, solved problems or mysteries. My friend checked the book out of a library sometime around 1968-1970, and it was an older book back then. She doesn't remember the title or the author.

M570: Magician, suitcase, ballerina, crocodile
Can't remember the title or author. 60's or 70's in date? Illustrations very similar to Sendak. A man/monster/magician arrives at a guesthouse carrying a suitcase. There is a notice on the guesthouse saying 'closed indefiinitely'. Odd things happen - crocodile in bath, ballerina in cupboard etc. help!

This doesn't match your description entirely, but there are enough similar elements to make it worth mentioning. Mercer Mayer's The Wizard Comes to Town was originally published in 1973, and I've always thought his illustrations were a bit like Sendak's. In this story, a wizard named Z.P. Alabasium rents a room at Mrs. Begg's boarding house (the sign outside says "Room for Rent. No tuba players allowed"), and soon after strange things happen in the boarding house. Weird creatures appear, there are reptiles in a guest's bed, and Mrs. Begg is turned into a ballerina briefly. Even if this is not your book, it's a fun story!
Mercer Mayer, Mrs Beggs and the Magician/ The Magician Comes to Town 1973, approximate. Thank you so much - its amazing how wrong the details of my memories were! but this is definitely the book. Having had a search around based on your comment I found out that when I had it it was called Mrs Beggs and the Magician and later had its title changed - which is probably why the 'Magician comes to town' title didn't leap out at me in previous searches.

N122: new grad becomes women's page editor
Solved: Sally and Her Kitchens & Sally and Her Homemaking
I am looking for two books, published I think in late forties, maybe early fifties about a young woman who goes to work for a newspaper and ends up being the editor of the women's page (after having majored in home economics?). She's always hunting down recipes, etc. In the second book she gets married and so the book talks about her setting up housekeeping and entertaining as well as her work on the paper. I got these books from the local library when I was about twelve and I loved them, but I don't remember either the author or the titles! Thank you for your help.

Leonora Mattingly Webber, Beanie Malone. I may be totally off the mark here, but any chance that this is a reference to the Beanie Malone Series?? I seem to remember she had a knack for cooking and housecleaning, and she did get married in one of the later books of the series.
The mystery has been solved: Sally and Her Kitchens and Sally and Her Homemaking. [Additional information: these books were written by May Worthington, and published in 1939 and 1941, respectively, by Dodd, Mead & Co. The subtitle for Sally and Her Kitchens is "The story of Sally Lewis' career in home economics."]

O142: Old Gray the cowpony
I am looking for a children's book, published sometime in the middle 1940's. No idea of the author, and the title is a bit unclear because of the possibility of different spellings of the two words. I expect it will be as follows: Old Gray "the cowpony". Any assistance in identifying and finding a copy of the book would be appreciated.

Will James, Smoky the Cow Horse, 1927. This isn't the exact title given in the query, but close enough so I thought I'd mention it. It was a 1927 Newberry Award winner and has been frequently reprinted.
Will James, Smoky the Cow Horse. To the poster of the O142 stumper: you may want to check out the book "Smoky the Cow Horse" by Will James. The date doesn't fit- I think the book came out in the late '20s- but it is a good read.
Sanford Tousey, Old Blue 1945, copyright. Just a possibility...Old Blue by Sanford Tousey. A "blue" is a blue roan, a mix of black and white hairs (think salt and pepper in a mans hair)."Old Blue was a great cowpony and as he got older, he was very patient with young riders"
Thanks for the suggestions. I am aware of the books they have suggested, but they are not what I am looking for. The book I am looking for is for a much younger child. I do remember something regarding the horse taking the cowboy through a snowstorm.
I now believe the title suggested is correct Old Blue, the cowpony. – by Sanford Tousey

R214: Ruby in the title??, mansion, time travel, pull cord, Beethoveen's nose
A YA book, pub. 1968 to 1978. A girl is sent to a mansion. She and two chirdren explore, pulling on a servant's pull cord, sending them back in time. They have adventures, but run out of pull cords to return to the real world, returning only when one thinks to "honk" the nose of a Beethoveen bust.

Yvonne MacGrory, The Secret of the Ruby Ring, 1994. I haven't read this book in a long time but this title came to mind when I read your post.

R215: romance twins take identity
This was a paperback romance from the library in the late 70s. It was about a woman who took a job saying she was her twin sister. She fell in love (as the twin sister). Her twin might have died and she was taking her place. She didn't tell anyone she was actually the other twin.

S632: skunks and little boy
in 1949, my mother Jerline Peaslee created a story for her students in a one room school. It was based on a picture of a row of cute skunks marching along , with tails and noses high, while behind a tree a little boy was watching with saucer-sized eyes. This & others were published under a pen name. The pen name was possibly Brown or Green. I am looking for any information on the stories my mother wrote.

Jerline Peaslee may have used the pen name Green or Brown. The skunk story was one in a group of eight stories. Another story - a longer one was about children and a pet deer. Animals talked to each other in many of her stories.

S633: spaghetti
Book read to me in grade school, early 1980s. Decently elaborate, whimsical illustrations, had a fairy tale/ old world feel to it. Story of a someone who made a pot of spaghetti that kept getting bigger and bigger, until the whole town was over-run by spaghetti.

I think this could be Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola, 1979. It was a Caldecott honor book. Strega Nona, an elderly woman who does minor magic for her village, hires Big Anthony to help around the house. She tells him never to touch her magic pasta pot, but of course he spies on her and hears how to make the pot produce pasta. One day when Strega Nona is away, Big Anthony turns on the pot and starts serving pasta to the whole village. However, Big Anthony doesn't know how to stop the pot, and soon there is pasta everywhere, running down the town streets. Strega Nona comes home, says the magic words to stop the pot from making pasta, and makes Big Anthony clean it all up.
Tomie DePaola, Strega Nona, 1980s, approximate. Good chance this is it!

S634: seven little bears
the story is about 7 little bears, all brothers. I can't remember all the names, but the eldest was called Marmaduke, and after him came (probably not in the correct order ), Algernon Cuthbert and Edward, with the youngest brother called Wee One who was the naughtiest. One of the books and my favourite, was on a schoolday when the lady teacher asked them to fill up the inkwells. the ensuing argument over who did what ensured the ink went everyehere but the inkwells. another book in the series is about a sunflower growing contest and Wee One's sunflower grew as high as the upstair window. i learnt to read with these books and would love to have them again, its the happy memories of so long ago sitting on my mum's lap, reading about these funny little bears. it would be really great if you can find them.

Chris Temple, The Family of the Little Brown Bears. These stories seem to have come from a periodical called Little Dots Playways.
Chris Temple, Little Brown Bears stories. I found this on a bears site: ""The Family of the Little Brown Bears" written and illustrated by Chris Temple. The family appeared in four books – "At the School," "At the Farm," "At the Seaside," and "At the Zoo" – and in the Little Dots monthly periodical in the 1920s. The family of Little Brown Bears included Marmaduke, Clarence, Cuthbert, Algernon, Archibald, Frederick, and Wee One. While attending Mrs. Bruin's School for Little Brown Bears, the brothers met fellow bears Oswald, Edward, and Claude." Seems to me that I also read one of these stories years ago in Playways Annual.

S635: shadow game
Older book around 1950-1960. Three kids a brother and sister and another boy play a game where they Shadow People. They follow someone discreetly and record what that person is doing and the time in a notebook. The girl chooses a man because of his looks and they follow him around. At a later date when reading the local newspaper the man they had "shadowed" is being charged with murder or some serious crime. They recognize the date as the day they had shadowed him. They locate their notebooks and compare the times and dates. They present them to the authorities and the grateful man goes free. The next time the kids go to town they see other kids carrying their notebooks shadowing people.

S636: Sister is reincarnated missing sister
Author name may start with something after "Keene"; prior to 1993, likelier from 80's or 70's or before. It starts with a teen or young adult female driving her mother to a morgue in a small car (maybe a toyota) in the rain. They were going to look at a body that might have been the sister to the young adult woman. The sister, who may have had dark curly hair and may have been named Molly or Emily, vanished when she was only a little child and had been out playing with her kitten, and she vanished before the young adult sister was even born. The mother felt guilty and I think it broke up her marriage, too, so she was always tracking down stories about amnesiac and dead women who matched her missing daughter's description. The young adult woman, on that miserable rainy day, decided to put her foot down and stop looking. Over the course of the book, she is hypnotized and regressed and learns that she was her missing sister. Near the end, the principal of the elementary school gives a deathbed confession to her only, stating that he accidentally ran over her sister and then covered it up by burying the girl and her kitten in a fresh grave. Then the bodies were found and the mother found closure.

I'm not sure of the title but I think I've read that. I keep thinking the author's name is Lorne or Loren. I remember thinking it seemed to have been based on Gillian and Jennifer Pollock. These twins said and did things which suggested they were the reincarnations of their sisters who had been hit by a car. Their father believed it was them and was obsessed about it.

S637: Sesame Street color mansion
I had this book as a kid, so it goes back at least to the 80s. The Sesame Street characters somehow (perhaps they get stranded?) end up exploring a mansion where every room is a different color; so Grover opens a door and finds a blue room, Big Bird, yellow; Elmo, red; Count, purple; Zoe, pink, etc.

Sunshine, Madeline, The House of Seven Colors 1985, copyright. Sesame Street characters Grover, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, the Count, Oscar and Betty Lou explore a house whose every room is a different color.

S638: Scary Stories Book for Kids/Teens
One story was about a indians in a snowy cave,one turns into a wendigo,the last story was about 2 girls that were invited to stay at Elizabeth Bathorys castle(revealed in footnotes at end of book)one was about a father and daughter with a ribbon and bowtie around their necks that keeps their head on.

S639: Siblings search for kidnapped witch
Kids book. 70s? Brother and sister see a schoolmate walking a goat, follow her, end up in another world, helping her search for her missing aunt, a witch. Either the girl or aunt is called Lavinia. Note from aunt: "Let Garlick be your guide." Garlick turns out to be the name of the aunt's helper/sidekick/familiar. At one point the kids have been captured by the villain and are being menaced by a black cloud (called the prickles?) and the girl chases it off with a can of hairspray from her bag. Later, the brother saves the day because he'd somehow gotten a dragon scale stuck in his shoe/sock. I don't think it was one of Ruth Chew's books. I remember it being a Scholastic-sized paperback with a few black and white line-drawings, but I could be wrong about at least the paperback part. Dragon scale in the boy's shoe saves the day.

T465: Twins and older sister at British boarding school
Mischief twins (NOT O'Sullivans) and older sister at Brit boarding school. They're "day girls". One chapter where older sis is sick, twins try to cook--white sauce and cauliflower for them, something else for her; they give her the wrong sauce, mess up the kitchen. Their apologies never sound like apologies.

T466: Toystore house book
This is a book I read in the 60's. It was about a little boy (Timmy or Tommy?) who moves to a new town when his parents buy a toystore. They live upstairs, and when they first arrive all of the shelves are empty and the little boy is unsure of it all. It all works out in the end, when all the toys are ... [rest cut off]

T467: Teenaage Woman who works on show ponies
It's about a young woman - probably a teenager - who works with show ponies. I believe she works in a barn, and that she is an exercise-rider and hired show-rider for expensive show ponies. The book depicts the whole horse-show world very darkly: The wealthy owners often don't care about the ponies or their well-being, riders cheat by lying about their ages so they can ride in younger divisions, ponies are given drugs to mask injuries or behavior problems so they can compete when they shouldn't (I think this is where I first encountered the term "bute up"), the workers are often injured by the ponies, and there was a general suggestion of exploitative class divisions between the wealthy horse owners and the people who worked in the barns. The girl might have had a pony of her own (maybe rescued?), but I'm not sure about that. I do remember that she was in a bad accident at one point, when a pony she was riding in a competition missed a fence and landed on her. She wound up with a concussion and other injuries, and the pony's owners tried to blame her, but it came out that the accident was due to banned drugs in the pony's system that made it crazy. I don't remember where it was set, but it was all English-style riding and jumping, not a Western setting. I think there was a picture of a girl on a horse jumping a fence on the cover. There might also have been a detail of a small stone horse statue that the girl's father gave her, but that detail might be remembered from another book.

V70: very nosy woman
A cutely illustrated book about a very nosy woman who always had her nose in other people's business. I remember one page where she was sticking her nose into someone's order at the market--it was live snails, and they crawled on her nose. It was from the 1970s or earlier (1979 at the latest.)

W296: Woman is hunted down by murdered sister's husband
I remember reading the book in 1993. It was a paperback book. It was a story about a woman whose sister is killed. They think her mean husband did it. The sister then takes the two children away with her and moves somewhere. I think it's a boy and a girl not really sure. The husband tries to basically hunt them down. He is upset at the sister and wants to do her harm. He doesn't speak too highly of women, especially his late wife. At one point in the story he finds out where the sister and children are living. He breaks into the apartment. Sister has no clue she has been found. At one point while the "dad" is in the apartment he finds his sister in law's underwear drawer takes out a pair of panties and leaves her his essense. To put it nicely . I believe he also cuts open her toothpaste so that when she squeezes it a mess will be made. I am not really sure why I want to find this book but I do. I for some reason think the word Ghost might be in the title but I have had no luck finding it so I am starting to doubt myself. I am not sure of any further details. Maybe if you can ask the right question I could answer it. Thank you for your help.

W297: weaving, rose coverlet, mother, Debbie, sick, deadline, Pennsylvania
It's about a mother who weaves overshot coverlets, and has a commission to weave a rose pattern coverlet, but she falls ill before it's completed. The family really needs the money, so the daughter, Debbie, has to finish it. Although usually you can tell where one weaver leaves off and another begins, Debbie matches her mother's work perfectly, and the the coverlet is finished in time, and the mother gets well. I think the book is from the 1930s or 1940s, but I think it is set in the 19th century; I think they are in rural Pennsylvania. Thanks for your help. I hope you can identify this one!

Cornelia Meigs, Wind in th Chimney 1934, copyright. The pattern of the quilt is Wheel of Fortune.

Y64: you'll never walk alone from the musical carousel features in this fantasy novel
I read this fantasy novel in the 80's or 90's. There are two protagonists, a boy and a girl, and the song "you'll never walk alone" from the musical "carousel" is a prominent plot point. Very dark.

Y65: young child gets toddler/baby sibling dressed to go on a trip
A book that is probably from the 70's/80's. It goes through a huge description on how the small child gets the younger sibling ready because he wants to go to a relative's house? Very descriptive and goes through each step, put on right sock then left, put on right shoe, feed baby. Landscape and in color.

Lore Segal, Tell me a Mitzi. Definitely the one. "So Mitzi lifted Jacob out of the crib and put him on the floor and she put on his shirt and his overalls and his socks. She put on his right shoe and his left shoe an dhis snowsuit and his mittens and tied his hat under his chin and said, 'NOW let's go.'"'
Lore Segal (Harriet Pincus, Illustrator), Tell me a Mitzi 1970. This might be it... the book contains 3 stories, and in the firsst, Mitzi and her little brother Jacob decide to go to Grandma's house before her parents get up: the descriptions of feeding and dressing Jacob are very detailed. The illustrations are very bright-colored, but it is set in the city, not the country. You can see a picture of the cover here: http://www.librarything.com/work/45497/covers/.
Lore Segal, Tell me a Mitzi. Maybe this one? In one of the stories a child wakes up the baby, dresses hims completely, takes him downstairs to the front of the apartment building, and tries to take a taxi to grandmas house, all without the mothers knowledge. When they cant get a taxi she has to go back upstairs and reverse the proceedings, putting the baby back in bed. The mother is surprised at how tired they both are that day!

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