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I am looking for a particular book from my childhood and I thought you might be able to help me find the correct title.  The book relates the story of a rather large family of rabbits (many small rabbit children) who one evening discover an aging, ragged bunny on their doorstep.  He very modestly doesn't want to intrude on their small home, but they observe his pitiable condition (cold, etc.) outdoors, and set about to make him as comfortable and cozy as possible.  Next morning they discover that he was the Easter Bunny.  It is a sweet and comforting story.  It may have been a Wonder Book.  I recall the cover being glossy all over, washable perhaps.  I'm fairly certain it was not a Golden Book.  Thank you in advance for any help you might offer.  It's certainly difficult to locate a book when one has forgotten the title.

This is a Wonder Book. I loved and read it too. It was called simply, I believe, 10 Little Rabbits. Don't know the author, but have the book somewhere but plan to keep it. The rabbit family first just helps the stranger to sleep outside, but then it rains. They bring out an umbrella, then finally invite him in. In the morning, he has left 10 Easter baskts on the mantelpiece.
Close! Here it is:
Potter, Miriam Clark. 10 Rabbits. Illustrated by Rachel Taft Dixon. Wonder Book #648, 1957.
Yes! That is it! I did find one copy last fall in Oregon or Washington state.  I bought it, but haven't seen any more yet. I just love it! Thanks for responding to my query. It really made me smile!
Another edition?  Potter, Miriam ClarkNine Rabbits and Another Wonder Books 1957. "An elderly, aging rabbit appears at the door of a home a rabbit family who have 7 children. He asks to stay the night, but there is no room. Finally, they find him a place in front of the fire. When they get up they are surprised by what he has left for them and who he really was."

Hi, my sisters and I are looking for an illustrated children's counting book we read in the early 1970's.  Reminiscent of Edward Lear or Maurice Sendak, but apparently not by them. The cover may have a picture of a child running from a pastry with white frosting on it in the shape of an 'X' or plus-sign. Below is almost the complete text of the book, which I learned from a post on the BookSleuth forum at abebooks.com. amazingly, that has still not been enough to find it.  Any help/clues towards identifying the Title/Author would be (um) vastly appreciated.   1 - One on the run from a vast cream bun   2 - Two marabou say how do you do   3 - Three ski off a giant's knee   4 - Four in awe of a dinosaur  5 - Five on a drive, will they survive  6 - Six do tricks on candlesticks  7 - Seven in heaven in deepest devon   8 - Eight, late, await their fate   9 - Nine decline to rise a shine  10 - Ten young men in a lions den  11 - Eleven bears without any cares  12 - Twelve baboons in blue balloons  13 - Thirteen adders play snakes and ladders  14 - Fourteen pigs in various wigs  15 - Fifteen birds say absurd words  16 - Sixteen ?  17 - Seventeen girls all diving for pearls  18 - Eighteen ?  19 - Nineteen climb for the very first time  20 - Twenty ?  60,034 could not believe just what they saw.  the 60,034(?) refers to the audience in a stadium the illustration is of all 11 members of a team (US: soccer, UK: football) in the goal in an attempt to block a penalty kick. Some are standing, some are being held over the heads of the ones standing, some are hanging from the top bar.

Colin McNaughton, 123 and Things, 1976.  This was solved another board. Sounds like a great book!

There are two books I loved as a kid--this goes back almost 50 years, and no-one seems to have any idea of either book.  The first was called The Thirteenth is  Magic, and involved a couple of children who, on the 13th of each month, could get onto the otherwise non-existant 13th floor of their apartment building, and the magical adventures they had while they were there.

Sounds like: Becker, Eve.  Thirteen Means Magic.  Harper & Row, 1976. Sound right to you?
That's too late.  Try this one instead (although it's very difficult to find!)  Howard, Joan.  The 13th is Magic.  Illustrated by Adrienne Adams. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., 1950.
Thank you so much!  I'm reasonably certain that's the book.  Now, if I can just find it, I'll be very happy.  Oh, nostalgia....

Joan Howard (pseud. Patricia Gordon) , Thirteenth is Magic. NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, '50.  The children are named Ronnie & Gillian. The Summer is Magic came out in '52: same publisher & illustrator (Adrienne Adams).
Howard, Joan.  The 13th is Magic.  Illustrated by Adrienne Adams. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., 1950.

The 13th is Magic -- The other book referred to is The Oldest Secret (Viking, 1953), where Hugh discovers a mysterious 'sunken' island after words appear and vanish in his school textbook. He meets Robin Goodfellow and learns that other boys have visited the island (Will Shakespeare, Sammy Coleridge, and others). To get to the Third Ring of the island he has to navigate a bog and avoid being caught by the boggart called the Cold Lad "if he so much as lays a finger on you, you'll be cold forevermore too", and wispy wraiths called the Lost Ones, those who gave in to panic and can never return to the world.
Other books by Patricia Gordon include The Heir to Christmas, illustrated by Garry McKenzie, published Viking 1953  "A lonely little boy finds company when he plays with the treasured toys of past generations." The Taming of Giants, illustrated by Garry McKenzie, published Viking 1950, "Apodemus Sylvaticus (field mouse to you) was an inch and a half long, and yet he actually, or so he thought, succeeded in taming Giants! When the rising tide flooded his old home he set out to find a new one, and came upon the Giants - a whole schoolroom full of them."  The Witch of Scrapfaggot Green, illustrated by William Pene du Bois, published by Viking 1948, "The twins had never had so much fun, and the inhabitants of the little English village had never been so busy since they first buried their witch 300 years before - all because of the mysterious happenings after 'Alice', the American Army  bulldozer, dug her teeth into the soft soil at the crossroads." Rommany Luck, illustrated by Rafaello Busoni, published by Viking 1947, "Story of Gypsy life in Elizabethan England. How Orlando saw the Queen, and won freedom for his family and every other Rommany, makes a happy ending to the cruel threat under which they were held." Not-Mrs.-Murphy, illustrated by Ralph E. Boyer, published Viking 1943, "Amazing experiences befell the children who rode for one exciting week on the green school bus driven by Not-Mrs.-Murphy. It was strange, too, that without once being late for school, they had run with the foxes, sailed with the parrots and shared life with unicorns and seals." The Boy Jones, illustrated by Adrienne Adams, published Viking 1943, "Story of London in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign and ragged and confident Boy Jones wih his obsession for living in Buckingham Palace. His surprising efforts to do this make a delicious story."

It was a book I read in 6th grade (1970s), so I guess a youth book.  It was about a girl who found out she had Lupus.  She got the butterfly rash on her face, and had to buy a wig.  The last paragraph in the book, I believe she is laying in bed and the sun is coming through her window and the last sentence is something like "And she turned her face towards it".  I'm unsure if that meant she died or not, which is why my 6th grade teacher tried to flunk me on a book report and told me he didn't think I had read it (I read it a zillion times!!)

so what if I'm last in line? I work here. I solved it. 13 is Too Young to Die by Isaacsen Bright.  -Audrey
I haven't checked at the library yet to see but I am 99.9% positive that you are correct on that title - thank you SOOOO much!!!!!!!!
Hi - I was the one who originally posted this book - sorry to say, I ordered 13 is Too Young To Die and read it today, and this is not the correct book.  "13" is about a teen who has a brain tumor.  The book I was looking for is specifically about Lupus, I remember the girl getting the butterfly rash on her face and she always had to stay out of the sun.  The last line of the book was "And she turned her face towards it."  I believe she was in her bedroom and was sick of having to stay out of the sun, and raised her blinds up to go to sleep.
Person who posted this disagrees, but I hold fast to my contention. Although I did leave the hyphen out of the author's name (it's Isaacsen-Bright; maybe two authors?).  I remember specifically everything the poster adds below except at the end, the girl's on the beach, I think, not up in her room.  Just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, I put in the book title on yahoo and got this reference: Isaacsen-Bright. (1980). Thirteen is too young to die. Worthington, OH: Willowisp. lupus  Ah, a literary conundrum...  Will investigate further.
Ok, the book I bought that was wrong...title is 13 Is Too Young To Die, by Isaacsen-Bright.  It's a "Lifelines" paperback book copyright 1989 by Willowisp Press.  Hope that's what you were looking for :)  This one was about a girl named Alexa who was a dancer, and had headaches all the time.  They found a tumor at the base of her brain, operated, couldnt' remove it all. The ending of this book was somewhat similar, she was dreaming she was sailing and the 2nd last line in this book was "The day was warm, and Alexa turned her face towards the sun.  She smiled and sailed off alone." In the book I was looking for I am pretty sure she was just in her bedroom going to sleep and had raised the blind b/c she was sick of not being able to see the sun.  I'm positive the very last line of the book was "And she turned her face towards it."  ANYWAY...I hope that's all you needed, if not just let me know!  I don't know how you do this!!  I have absolutely no memory whatsoever!! :)
That's exactly what I needed, and now I'm more intrigued than ever.  The reference I found to the book on the web listed it under "lupus", and I strongly remember it--clearly, this one needs some investigation!  I'll let you know if I find anything and hope you will do the same.
I did a quick search for the publisher and found this: If I Should Die Before I Wake, by Lurlene McDaniel.
Got very excited!  Thought, okay, maybe I was hallucinating and THIS is the book. For once, there was a full synopsis.  Not the book we seek. Back to the drawing board.
Yes, I did a search for it as well and saw that it was coming up under "Lupus" but they never even mention the word in this book, it's just a tumor at the base of her brain.  Very weird!!  Anyway...I'll let you know if I find out anything, now that school is opening next week I'm hoping they'll let me browse around the elementary school library to see if maybe I got it from there :)
13 is Too Young to Die - Someone on Alibris was looking for a juvenile about a girl with lupus that involved Egyptian cats, and it was identified as Cat in the Mirror, by Mary Stolz, published Harper 1975, where the girl has a connection (psychic link?) with another girl in ancient Egypt. The Egyptian goddess Bastet and cats feature in the story. I haven't been able to confirm the part about lupus, though.
Isaacsen-Bright, 13 is Too Young to Die.  The exact last lines are : "The sun must have come up yellow she thought tiredly. And then she turned her face to it."  I have this book at my side right now and am currently re-reading it for like the 900th time. It is an awesome book that I just happened to pick up one day many years ago when i was not even a teen probably!
Hi - I originally posted the 13 is Too Young To Die.  The last person to post put down the last lines of her book. However, in my book 13 Is Too Young To Die by Isaacsen-Bright, the last words are:  "Suddenly Alexa realized that she was alone in the boat.  Everyone else was gone.  The boat sailed far out into the bay.  She could barely see land.  The day was warm, and Alexa turned her face toward the sun.  She smiled and sailed on alone."  I distinctly remember in the book I'm looking for, that she definately had Lupus, she got the butterfly rash on her face and was trying to hide it, and she also had to buy a wig.  I remember her going to school in her wig and feeling like everyone was staring at her.  For some reason I'm thinking the girl in the book was a swimmer?  That might be wrong, but I'm positive about the other things.
Was the1989 reprint of the 1980 original perhaps changed?  Lupus turned to brain tumor?
Isaacsen-Bright, 13 is Too Young to Die, 1980.  I have the book - paid $1.50 for it in 1980 - 1981 - it left such an impression on me that it is the only book I've saved from my childhood (I'm 36 now).  It definitely ends the way the first writer indicated, and the girl - her name was Alexandra, most called her Alexa, but her dad called her Lexi - was diagnosed with Lupus.  Hope this helps.

The 18th Emergency
The 18th Emergency:  "When the toughest boy in school swears to kill him, twelve-year-old Mouse finds little help from friends and must prepare for this emergency alone."  Hammerman is the bully, and Mouse spends the entire book running from him until he finally decides to just get the fight over with. It all started when Mouse drew Hammerman's name next to a picture of a Neanderthal, and Hammerman didn't like it.   Mouse's friend Ezzie also tries to help him to avoid the bully and his friends. I don't remember anything about a firehouse, though.
Hello!  My book stumper was solved. The title The 18th Emergency is correct. I can't believe it was found so quickly! Not knowing the title/whereabouts of this book has been plaguing me for years. Now, I've located it at our public library.  What a wonderful service you offer- you must bring joy and satisfaction to so many people. I'm telling everybody at work (I work at the public library) about your service and about how great it is. Best wishes for a happy holiday and a safe and healthy new year.

My wife is trying to find a children's poetry book she especially enjoyed as she was growing up. However, she does not remember the name or the editor of the book.   It contains the following poems among others:  Stephen Wants a Mouse,  Whale, The Tale of Custard the Dragon, The Camel's Complaint, and Robinson Crusoe's Story.  It had 249 pages, a board cover and black and white illustrations. She guesses it was published in the 1940 era.

Be sure to check out the Untermeyer Golden Treasury of Poetry, and others, on the Most Requested Antholgies page, just in case.
Marjorie Barrows, 200 BEST POEMS for Boys and Girls, 1938. This was one of my favorites as a child and I still have it. It's original copyright is 1930 by Whitman Publishing Co.  It has a frog on a toadstool, and a rabbit sitting amongst flowers on the front cover, and two squirrels and a butterfly on the back cover. It has all the poems in it mentioned by the poster.  It also has "The Bear Hunt," "The Animals' Fair," "Radiator Lions," "Somersaults," "Trees," "Where Go the Boats," and "Animal Crackers."  Mine has 253 pages (if you count all the indexes), a board cover and many black and white illustrations.
Hey, I found it...  P134...  and someone has identified it!  200 Best Poems for Boys and Girls.  Now, do you have a copy?  Since you were instrumental in finding the title for me, I would like to buy it from you if it is not too expensive...

compiled by Marjorie Barrows, 200 BEST POEMS for Boys and Girls, 1938, reprint.  I have solved this one before.  The picture of the cover on this site differs from mine.This was one of my favorites as a child and I still have it. It's original copyright is 1930 by Whitman Publishing Co.  It has a frog on a toadstool, and a rabbit sitting amongst flowers on the front cover, and two squirrels and a butterfly on the back cover. It has all the poems in it mentioned by the poster.  It also has "The Bear Hunt," "The Animals' Fair," "Radiator Lions," "Somersaults," "Trees," "Where Go the Boats," and "Animal Crackers."  Mine has 253 pages (if you count all the indexes), a board cover and many black and white illustrations.

See More on Most Requested Books
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I have been looking for years for a book that my little sister had. She was killed by a drunk driverwhen she was four. Maybe that book was my link to her, but I loved it and remember looking at it and reading it often. I think she must have gotten it the year before she died, so around 1956 or 1957.
It was a story book, not a picture book, about the children of a small town. The inside front and back covers had a map of the town. I remember there was a river in the drawing. Everything was in b&w and I believe there was a different story on each page. Most (or many) stories had a drawing at the top of the page. Some of the stories: the children making edible candy necklaces; one girl dropping a pea into the cream pitcher when guests were over; paperdolls that came alive at night.

Harriett!!!!!!!!!!  I am so excited. I've been looking at your website tonight (and sent in a stumper yesteray) and I'm thinking possibly (Can it be true?) the book I've been looking for for 20 years is the Nan Gilbert 365 Bedtime stories. Is there a story about the pea in the cream pitcher? an edible necklace?  Oh, I hope so!!!! Thank you.
Nan Gilbert, 365 Bedtime Stories.  I've paged through the book twice, and this is what I found. "[O]ne girl dropping a pea into the cream pitcher when guests were over..." is September 13, "The Sunday-Dinner Peas."  Timmy spills two peas during Sunday dinner, and hides them in the cream pitcher. "...[P]aper dolls that came alive at night..." is May 25, "It's an Ill Wind."  Jane leaves her paper dolls in the yard and they get blown about by the wind.  The story about "the children making edible candy necklaces" is the only one I can't find.  The children make taffy (January 28, "A Taffy Tale"), candy sack dolls (July 24, "The Candy Sack Dolls") and Sunday school candles made of cereal "shaped like tiny doughnuts" (September 20 "Amy's Candle), but I can't find anything about edible candy necklaces.  Still, it certainly seems like this is the book you're looking for!

This is a book I had as a child. I remember it was a Dell Young Reader - I remember the logo of the horse jumping over a fence on the cover, which I believe means it was a Dell Young Reader.  It was the story of a cat's life.  The cat didn't have a name - it was not a picture book, but a chapter book with very few drawings. The story was how the cat came to be a stray and its life as a stray. Late in the cat's life it's taken in by an old couple.  It was chasing leaves while the old couple was raking and ran in front of a car and hit, and died.  (it sounds depressing but was a great book). The cover showed a colored drawing of the old couple raking and the cat - a calico.  Another chapter I remember is the cat having kittens, and the kittens being swept away by a flood.  The story is told in third-person and explores the cat's feelings.  I would love to have a copy of this book.  Thank you.

I had this Dell Yearling paperback too! Very touching. G. D. Griffiths: Abandoned! A children's story: the moving story of a kitten abandoned on Dartmoor. Illustrated by Les Edwards. Paperback suggestions for the possible title of this book include: "Thomasina" by Paul Gallico, "The Abandoned" by Paul Gallico, "King of the Park" by Mitchell Saunders
Yes!  That's definitely the one I remember - although I would never, under any circumstances, describe it as a "childrens" story, any more than I would read a Celtic fairy story to a five year old.
I have more to add to the "Solved Mysteries" for Abondoned.  I got the book Abandoned by G.D. Griffiths from the library - and it's the book!!!!  I would love to have a copy if you can find a copy for me.  Here's the info from the library copy:
Abandoned by G.D. Griffiths, Follet Publishing Co. Chicago, Copyright 1973, ISB N 0695-80537-1 Library of Congress Catalog Card No 74-18131

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Steig, William.  Abel's Island.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976, 1985.  New paperback,  $5.95

Pete Seeger, Abiyoyo,1986. Banished from the town for making mischief, a little boy and his father are welcomed back when they find a way to make the dreaded giant Abiyoyo disappear. Based on an African folk tale, and Illustrated by Michael Hays.
Seeger, Pete
Seeger, Pete, Abiyoyo,(song, 1963),   book 1986. How about Abiyoyo?  "He had long fingernails 'cause he never cut 'em.  He had slobbery teeth 'cause he didn't brush 'em, stinking feet 'cause he didn't wash 'em, matter hair 'cause he didn't comb it."  The boy in the story sings "A-BI-YO-YO, A-BI-YO-YO,......" and the giant started to dance (because he had never heard a song about himself before) until he fell down.  Then the father took his magic wand and Zoop! Zoop! Abiyoyo disappeared.  There was a sequel - Abiyoyo Returns.
Possibly one of the book versions of the Pete Seeger story/song of Abiyoyo?
This sounds like Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger
etc.

Elizabeth Enright, Spiderweb For Two.  1951.  This book doesn't take place in Los Alamos, but fits the description otherwise.
Ramona Maher, The Abracadabra Mystery, 1961. This takes place in Santa Fe rather than Los Alamos (the boy points out the house in which Lew Wallace finished "Ben-Hur"), but everything else fits.  The main characters are a teenaged stepsister and stepbrother, they are searching for a lost font of type, and I believe their pictures are on the dust jacket, though I haven't seen the book for more than 20 years.
Ramona Maher, The Abracadabra Mystery, 1961.  The Abracadabra Mystery seems to fit the description.  The story takes place in Santa Fe (the house where Lew Wallace lived when he wrote "Ben-Hur" is pointed out).  The adolescents are step-siblings (the girl's mother married a New Mexican and moved to Santa Fe her husband has a son and a daughter, and the rivalry between the girls is a subplot), and they are hunting for a missing typeface.

#H63--History of America contrasted with other things going on in the world: The World in the time of Abraham Lincoln, by Fiona MacDonald.
The series The World in the Time of ...Abraham Lincoln/Albert Einstein/Leonardo Da Vinci...etc was written in the late 1990's -- way too late to be the book you're looking for.
Genevieve Foster, Abraham Lincoln's World. From your description, I'm not sure if your book deals with more than one president at a time, but I thought I'd give this one a shot--Genevieve Foster's book Abraham Lincoln's World does intertwine Lincoln's life with events going on elsewhere in the world during that time.  She also wrote George Washington's World, Augustus Caesar's World, World of Columbus and Sons, and some others.
H63 I checked The first book of presidents, but it had hardly anything abt any one, let alone Lincoln.

I think the game you're describing was called "Ace of Aces."
Alfred Leonard, Hal McKinney, Aces to Aces WWII Air Combat Game.  There are several of these in the series. They come in a box with two booklets and are just as you describe. The only one I'm familiar with is Balloon Buster. Never played it but have one sitting around that I picked up at a book sale. I never really understood what it was until I read your description! :-) But that's it!
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Ace of Aces.  Here's info I found on the web- it looks like your books are actually part of a game. "Ace of Aces is a computer game flight simulator developed by Artech Digital Productions in 1986. The game takes place during World War II.  There was also a brilliant two-person "board" game of the same name from 1980 with the same name. Instead of being a dice-based game, it used a pair of books with a Choose Your Own Adventure style of looking up the result of your next action. But given that it was a two-player game, that meant your actions were determined as well by what action your opponenet chose to take."
Alfred Leonardi, Ace of Aces, 1980 (first version).  This must be I think Ace of Aces which I played in the mid-eighties -with the little brown books. There are still quite a lot of fansites out there try this website which is pretty complete
Nova Game Designs, Ace of Aces.  The poster is probably thinking of Ace of Aces, by Nova Game Designs. I had the Pern version of this game book based on Ace of Aces at one point, which (aside from the fact it's dragons instead of WWI fighters) sound just like the poster describes it. There are two books in a set, one for each player.

The book starts out being about a group of (Amazon?) warrior women, the main character being one of these women. The main character gets kidnapped by an underwater civilization (Atlantis?), these people give her gills so that she cannot return to her warrior people. The warrior tribe she left behind is visited by a group of Greek (mythological type names?) men who then proceed to start a war with the warrior women. She is forced to helplessly watch the war from her underwater world.   I am sure that at least one of the Amazon women are kidnapped and think the story may be set around the 9th? trial of Hercules (Amazons battle Hercules/Theseus over Hippolyte's girdle? Where Antiope (or Hippolyte, depending on the story) is abducted, and married to King Theseus in Greece.) I'm not sure about this.   I found the underwater world the most interesting part of this book and am interested in getting a copy of it. If this is recognizable to you or anyone you know, I would really appreciate knowing the title.

Jessica Bryan, Across A Wine-Dark Sea, 1991.  This is the first in a 3-book trilogy about the Atlantean merpeople.  See this website which has descriptions of all three books along with their covers.  They are wonderful and sit on my keeper shelves.  They are romance novels, not children's books.  To my great regret the author never wrote any other books that I can discover.

I read this book in the late '70's, early '80's. I remember the title as being a long string of girls' names that started with "A" ending in Girl Witch. An example: Alexanria Ariadne Arista Angelina, Girl Witch (I'm pretty sure about the "Ariadne" part). The book was about a young girl who decides she wants to be a witch. She's maybe at her aunt's house, there's maybe a cousin.... She tries various spells and find some of them actually work. At the very end of the book she decides she doesn't want to be a witch anymore, she wants to be a spy.

W155: The Active-Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch by Edmund Wallace Hildick, 1973. Non-fantasy, I think, but there is a mystery involved. Bored and annoyed at her parents, she takes a "witch" name, Ariadne Atropos Arachne. She doesn't want her little sister around, but her sister finds out about the game and takes a witch name too. I used to get this mixed with The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test until I actually read the former.
E.W. Hildick, The Active-Enzyme Lemon-Freshened  Junior High School Witch.  I don't have the book in front of me, but I know this is it.  The main character Allison decides to pick a magical name for herself out of a book and winds up liking so many of them that her witch name is something like "Arachne Ariadne Atropos...".  Her younger sister is kind of pesky but insists on learning the spells as well.
E.W. Hildick, The Active-Enzyme Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch.  The main character does take a long string of names, one of which is Ariadne. If I remember correctly, her little sister decides to take the name 'Jezebel'. :)
This doesn't match exactly, but my first thought was that this was E.L. Konigsburg's Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and me, Elizabeth (anthenrum, 1967).  Elizabeth meets Jennifer (sitting in a tree) when they're both dressed up as pilgrims for a school play.  Jennifer decides to make Elizabeth and "apprentice witch," and Elizabeth learns how to eat raw eggs and cast short spells.  The girls meet each Saturday at the library and go from there to the park where they hold special ceremonies and read books on witchcraft. Their goal is to make a flying ointment, with ingredients like fingernails, watermelon seeds, a frozen snowball, and Crisco - and possibly their pet frog, Hilary Ezra.  At which point their friendship runs into rough waters, though they make up at the end of the book.  However, though they decide they don't want to be witches anymore, I don't remember anything about being a spy - and the title doesn't contain A names or the phrase 'witch girl' so this probably isn't the book you're looking for.
Konigsburg, E. L.,  Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth.  This sounds like it could be this classic.
And it looks as though there's a sequel - The Top-Flight Fully-Automated Junior High School Girl Detective (1978). The description reads: "Three children comb their area of Manhattan in search of a credit card thief."

E.W. (Edmund Wallace) Hildick, The Active-Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened, Junior High School Witch, 1973.  I haven't read this one, but the description from your Solved Mysteries "A" page certainly matches!
Edmund Wallace Hildick, The Active-Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch, 1973.  This is a popular one! See the solved mysteries!
A248  This is THE ACTIVE-ENZYME, LEMON-FRESHENED JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WITCH by  E.W. Hildick, c1973.~from a librarian
Active Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened Junior High School Witch.  From the solved mysteries page...this one pops up a lot!
E.W. Hildick, The Active-enzyme, Lemon-freshened Junior High Scool Witch
E.W. Hildick, The Active-Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened, Junior High School Witch, 1973.  This is it! Thanks so much.

A young boy, maybe the youngest of several children, finds a key in the woods that seems to bring him luck or grant his wishes. He thinks he is to blame for the cat getting into the fishtank when he doesn't see his brother's favorite, black goldfish in the tank. He reapproaches the tank with the key, and the fish swims out from among ferns. The author's surname would be between H and L, 1975-1985

Lattimore, Eleanor Frances, Adam's Key, 1976.  This sounds like it, but I couldn't find a more detailed description: "The youngest of five children finds a master key that not only enables him to help in emergencies but gives him the self-confidence he lacks."
And that's another! The one of the three I was most anxious about was the colony one, but I certainly do appreciate the help with these two. Thank you so much.
Summary: The youngest of five children finds a master key that not only enables him to help in emergencies but gives him the self-confidence he lacks.

Title - Simplicity Jane ??? 1940s-50s?  This book revolved around an older orphan girl, a rather plain child, who was shy and reserved and never got picked by prospective adoptive parents.  Anyway, one summer she is chosen to spend half her summer with a reserved single/widowed woman, and makes a rather ebullient friend named India Maud.  The second half of the summer she spends with a family in the country, and at summer's end is faced with the choice of picking between the families, who would both like to adopt her.  I cannot remember either author or title, but do recall that "simple" or "simplicity" may have figured in the latter.

H. R. Daringer, Adopted Jane, 1947.  I recognized this book description right away!!  The name of it is Adopted Jane and it's pretty much as described including the friend, India Maud.  I can't find a reference to "Simplicity Jane" in the book, though.
This poster is describing the book Adopted Jane by Helen Fern Daringer and illustrated by Kate Seredy. One my favorites from childhood!
Adopted Jane by Helen Fern Daringer, 1947 ~from a librarian
Thank you for the identification of this book.  Such a relief.  But I wanted to explain, briefly, the "simplicity" part of my recollection.  I recall that the first prospective parent, the single/widowed woman, has the dressmaker come to fit Jane for some clothes, and sort of thoughtfully muses that they should be "something simple, I think."  Anyway, I recall Jane making a mental note that "simple" sounds so much better than "plain," the word much in use at her orphanage.  Since one can say "Plain Jane," I think I must have stored this information away in my mind as leading to her name being "Simplicity Jane."  Clearly, "Simple Jane" would never do!

I did find the solution right after I sent payment. I did search your website first and found nothing.  Just a very SHORT time after I paid, I was just wandering through your website and FOUND the title. It rang a bell so I did a google search on the title and found more about it. This IS the book I was looking for! I was wrong about Jane's age. I was 8 when I read it, she was 12!
I forgot I didn't put that in the email! The book is Adopted Jane by Helen Fern Daringer. It was copyrighted in 1947 and reprinted, I believe in 2002. Which is great because it is AFFORDABLE!

Tomboyish girl named Addie (Abby?) has own rowboat, solves mystery.  I remember the protagonist being very independent and self-confident (esp. on the water), having a male friend (relative?) who is much more timid in going out in the boat.  There is a scene late in the story where the children have escaped the "bad guy" (don't remember much about him), try to row back to shore in a storm, the landlubber friend has poked holes in the gum between the boards of the boat to "let the water out" (after a joke about this by the bad guy earlier), so they are sinking.  Also, when told to "throw out the anchor", the friend boy does so--having untied the anchor rope, so it's gone. This story had an atmosphere that stuck with me.  I read it no later than 1968, probably '67 or '66.  Thanks for your help.

Lauber, Patricia., Adventure at Black Rock Cave, illustrated by Leonard Shortall.  Random House 1959.  This sounds like a good bet - "Even though their father warned them to stay away from Black Rock Island, Chris and Addie are determined to solve the puzzling secret of Black Rock Cave."
Lauber, Patricia, Adventure at Black Rock Cave, 1959.  I remember this book! Addie and Chris take a rowboat to Black Rock Island where Addie has seen mysterious lights. If I recall correctly they encounter lobster poachers!

As a kid, in the mid to later 60's I read a book about modern explorers discovering a lost world of cave people, coexisting with dinosaurs. First clue that something extraordinary was ahead was the relatively fresh(not fossilized) body of an Archyopteryx(sp?), one of the feathered lizard bird ancestors. This world was reached through a (tunnel/cleft?) in a cave. At one point a T-Rex attacks the Stone Age villagers, and in one scene  the modern day people witness a ceremony intended to ward off such terrors.  A shaman wore a stylized mask of a big flesh eater. The moderns eventually returned to the outer world, I don't remember how.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land that Time Forgot, 1924.  This is one of the likelier candidates:  A trilogy: The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, and Out of Time's Abyss.  “Bowen Tyler's adventure began with a terror-haunted trip as a captive in an enemy submarine. It ended on the rocky shores of a lost world, unmapped land forgotten by the rest of humanity, where the beasts and beast-men of the Stone Age still lived and fought as they had hundreds of thousands of years ago. What was the secret of this mysterious continent, where time had apparently stopped and where dinosaurs, sabre-toothed tigers and ape-men still struggled for their lives with tooth and claw?"
The solutions I saw proposed are not the book I read, sorry to say.  I have read both the Conan Doyle and Burroughs books, and it's not them.  I'm pretty sure the book was targeted for a juvenile audience, and the author was not someone who was/is well known, or someone else would have come up with the answer.  But I thank the people who tried to help.  There's always hope.
Lester del Rey, Tunnel Through Time, 1966.  Details differ slightly.  When Dr. Miller sends Doc Tom back in time through his time tunnel and Doc Tom doesn't return on schedule, their 17-year-old sons Bob and Pete must travel back to rescue Doc Tom.  They meet a T-Rex and see it fight a triceratops.  They also see the Archaeopteryx (but it's alive).  Later they advance in time and meet primitive people.  No dinosaurs then, though.  This was a Scholastic book.
I wish the del Rey book was the solution, but I know the story I read didn't have a time travel element.  I'm almost positive the "lost world" was entered through a cave/tunnel/natural geologic formation.  Am not positive now if adults were along, but my sister remembers that when the young people return their folks see a live Archyopteryx, and the kids ask "Now do you believe us?"  I still appreciate that folks are trying to help solve this puzzle!
I'm sure the answer can be found at the Prehistoric Fiction Bibliography.  It lists 1023 titles, with bookcovers and descriptions.
Glyn Frewer, Adventure in Forgotten Valley.  My thanks to whoever posted the Prehistoric Fiction Bibliography. I started slogging through all those authors and titles and only got to the F's before I came to the solution. I read the summary and it has it all, the kids, the cave, the Archyopteryx, everything.  Now I have to search for a copy!  Thank you, thank you!  The Internet is wonderful!

Hypnosis unnecessary.  You're awfully close, though.  Try Enid Blyton's Adventure Series:  8 books, 1944-1955. Featuring Philip, Dinah, Jack, Lucy-Ann, Bill Smugs and Kiki, a parrot with an attitude.  See more on the Most Requested pages.

Enid Blyton, Island of Adventure, etc. A series of mysteries about two pairs of children an adult detective and a parrot/cockatoo called Kiki.

#P143--Puffin talks and yells about closing doors, windows could be: Bogwoppit. Ursula Moray Williams.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson, 1978.  First U. S. Edition.  Abandoned by her guardian, Samantha moves in with an unwelcoming aunt whose dilapidated house includes bogwoppits, rat-size creatures with wings, fur, and blue eyes.
Enid Blyton, "Adventure" series (Island of Adventure, etc.).  Kiki in this series is in fact a parrot and not a puffin but otherwise it sounds like her.
Blyton, Enid, Sea of Adventure.  Armada 1977, reprint.  I'm going to agree with the Blyton suggestion. Kiki the parrot is in every book and often mixes up her sayings, which include "where's your handkerchief?" "pop goes the weasel" "wipe your feet" "shut the door" "God save the Queen" "wash your hands" "three bags full" "call the police" and imitations of a police whistle and a steam train. I'm going to suggest this particular title because the four children visit a group of islands and are stranded on one where puffins nest, so there are a lot of puffins, including one which becomes a sort of pet for them, so there is a puffin and a parrot both. It may be in this book that Kiki learns to say "puff puff puff", also.

Actually, I think by looking at other questions on your website, I solved the mystery.  I believe they were a series of books by Enid Blyton called the Adventure Series.  The one I had remembered was the Island of Adventure.  I have to find a copy and read it!  Thank you!

I think this is Willard Price's Adventure series with Hal & Roger Hunt.  Amazon Adventure...African Adventure...Arctic...Diving...South Sea...Safari...etc.
This sounds like the Adventure series from Willard Price.  There are 14 books in the series - we were read these at school and the two I remember most are African Adventure (where they have a pet cheetah) and I think South Sea Adventure (where one brother gets stuck in a giant clam!) The brothers names are Hal and Roger Hunt.
This might be the Tom Quest series by Fran Striker, an 8 volume series that ran from 1947 to 1955.....there is only one son, Tom, but there is a young reporter who has joined him on his adventures, the first one of which is to rescue his long missing archaeologist father from the jungle in Sign of the Spiral.  Other possibilities would be the Ken Holt series by Bruce Campbell (1948-1963) or Biff Brewster (1960-1965), though again, there is only one son in each.

Raymond Healy and Francis McComas, eds., Adventures in Time and Space, 1966.  This book is a collection of sci fi stories by various authors and it has the Black Destroyer story, and the cover is red. It's the 1966 Bantam edition. Here's a picture: http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=144166669&aid=frg.  I can't tell exactly how cat-like the creature on the front is, because there are words across the image, but it does have a tail.
Having just searched through several sci-fi anthology sites, I've found Black Destroyer included in many anthologies, dating from the 1940s through current publications.  As the basis for the movie "Alien", this appears to be one of Vogt's more popular stories, as well as his first. However, I've not yet come across the cover you described. Perhaps it would help if you provided an approximate publication date for the book you are looking for, or at least about when you read it?  Also, do you remember any of the other stories included in that book? That might help to narrow down the search.
That's the one I was trying to describe!!!! Thank you very much for solving this for me. I've been trying to find this for quite a while! This if a great service and I will highly recommend it.  Thanks again. I can't wait to get it.

The book I am looking for is a reasonably long  kid's 'chapter book' written prior to 1977 or so. It was illustrated in black and white. It follows the story of a rabbit who becomes shipwrecked on a desert island. He eventually makes it home to his wife and child on the back of a whale or shark. (I am not thinking of Abel's Island, FYI.) My dad read this book to my sister and I over a series of nights when we were young, and I would love to find a copy. Thanks!

Garth Williams, The Adventures of Benjamin Pink, 1970. Chapter book about a shipwrecked rabbit, I'm fairly certain this is what you're after - it's got black and white illustrations, and does involve riding a sea animal (I think a turtle, though). He also does have a wife back home (though I don't think a child). Hope this helps!
Far too  many items on Google to check, but I found this before I gave up:  Garth Williams.  Benjamin's Treasure. A rabbit gets stranded on a deserted island with a trunk full of treasure and  must find his way home.

This is a children's book read to me in the 1970s. I remember it as a series of short stories about a cat and dog who are friends. One story has them fighting over what color to paint a doghouse--one wants yellow; the other blue, and it turns out green. Another story is about their first day of school, and one of them eats chalk. I remember that the illustrations were very amusing and that the dog resembled a golden retriever. The book was hardcover and on the large side--maybe 8.5" x 11" Help!!

Annemarie Colbin / Anne-Marie Dalmais, The Adventures of Brownie and Puff, 1970.  This is definitely The Adventures of Brownie and Puff.  It is retold by Annemarie Colbin, from a French text by Anne-Marie Dalmais, with illustrations by Giannini, and is an oversized hardcover book (10.5" x 12"), published by Golden Press in 1971. Brownie is a golden retriever type puppy, and Puff is a grey striped kitten.  The stories in the book are: Brownie and Puff, Brownie and Puff at the Beach, Brownie and Puff Paint the House, Brownie and Puff Go to the Mountains, and Brownie and Puff at School.

Title Unknown. This is the story of a Tourist Squirrel who travels all over the US and meets all kinds of friends along the way, I recall a white or silver squirrel for sure. Can you help? This is a great web site, btw!

maybe ... The adventure of Chatterer, the squirrel by Thorton W. Burgess first edition 1924  it could as well be this one
In print & available as a Dover Children's Thrift Classic.
The book is listed as being SOLVED as Adventures of Chatterer, the red squirrel by Thornton W. Burgess.  This is NOT correct - that book does not deal in ANY way with a travelling squirrel - instead it is a more naturalistic story of a squirrel's life.  I am not sure of the correct answer, but I'll throw out a few more guesses to help out whoever first posted the stumper:  Alexander, Elsie M., Happy Family of Beechnut Grove; Story of Peter Gray Squirrel and Family (not sure if they travel however).  Famous, Howard B. (real name Helen Hart), Hazel Squirrel and Other Stories; Bushy-Tail and Hazel Squirrel.  Fielding, Jane, Jackie Hightree's Adventures of a Squirrel.  Garrott, Hal, Squiffer.  Nill, Cynthia, Scamper.  Prentice, Amy, Frisky Squirrel's Story. Sittig, Mrs. Frank, The Story of Bobby Squirrel and other Bedtime Stories. Stowe, Harriet Beecher, Queer Little People. Walsh, George Ethelbert, Bobby Gray Squirrel's Adventures.  Wyatt, Woodrow, The Exploits of Mr. Saucy Squirrel.  Hope the person who posed the original stumper finds their book one day.  You offer a wonderful service, by the way!

I am looking for a copy of a book named The Adventures of Grandfather Frog. It was one from my elementary days which would have been in the 1950's Any help in locating this book would be greatly appreciated. It was in a series.

The Adventures of Grandfather Frog is by Thornton W. Burgess.  It was originally published in 1915 but seems to be perpetually in print.  It is a series; he wrote dozens of books about Peter Rabbit, Reddy Fox, Jerry Muskrat and their friends.
A61 could be Grandfather Frog by Thornton Burgess Bedtime Stories.
This is Thornton Burgess, the Adventures of Grandfather Frog (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1915).  In print & available as a Dover Children's Thrift Classic.

Betty S. Fix, THE MUSICAL SEA SHELL the Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield, 1946.  "Engaging undesea fantasy about Idabell and Wakefield, the little Royal Fish Twins. Terrific full-page color illustrations throughout."  (The illustrations refer to this edition).
Ya know, I did think of this book, but did not know there was a series.
Betty S. Fix, The Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield, 1939?  Apparently this is a set of 5 books - v. 1. The musical sea shell. -- v. 2 "What would you do?" -- v. 3 Everyday and missaday. -- v. 4 Dolls around the world. -- v. 5 Through a child's window

Betty S. Fix, The Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield.  Fish children, one named "Wakefield" -- need I say more? :)
F81  Betty Sims, The Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield, 1946.  series of books about fish children, great illustrations
The Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield. Any chance this is it?  If not, I'm concerned about the number of fictional fish named Wakefield!

M208:  Musical Seashell.  1955. Beautiful pictures - larger size, 13X9 - hard cover - reading age 10 yrs or younger.

Betty S. Fix, The Musical Sea Shell:  The Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield, 1938.  "Story of Idabell and Wakefield, little Royal Fish Twins. In their kingdom at bottom of the ocean, everyone is talking about the wonderful little sea shell, that plays beautiful music. Everyone is searching for the little sea shell."

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Fix, Betty S. Dolls.  Around the World: The Adventures of Idabell and Wakefield.  In collaboration with Edith E. Buhler.  The Crosby House: 1946.  This volume features fanmail from around the world with full color plates of dolls representing various nations.  Dust jacket is tattered, but the book is only a bit shelfworn.  Pages and illustration colors are bright.  VG/P.  $38

Richard Scarry's little worm hiding throughout his illustrations is called Lowly.  He seems to have his own book, but recently: Scarry, Richard. The Adventures of Lowly Worm.  Random House, 1995.
L57 Scarry, Richard. Richard Scarry's lowly worm sniffy book. illus by Richard Scarry. Random, c1978.  scratch & sniffbooks, spiral binding is white wire, not plastic.

I would very much like to find a book that was read to my second-grade class circa 1961-62, although I know the book in question was "old" at that time.  My only recollections (fairly accurate, I hope) are of the main character who was a little girl named Mabel who had adventures with brownies/fairies.  She may have entered their world through a hole in a tree or the ground.  I thought I was about to solve this mystery a few years ago when I ran into my second-grade teacher, but she could not remember the name/title and had given the book away.  Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Don't know how close this is - Hester and the Gnomes, by Marigold Hunt, illustrated by Jean Charlot, published Whittlesey/McGraw 1955, 128 pages. "A delightful story of how a delegation of gnomes came up to investigate the digging of a well, how they met Hester, and why they decided to stay and set up a gentlemen's residence in the old hollow tree. Ages 8-12." (Horn Book Sep/55 p.403 pub.ad)
M109 mabel and dwarves: could it be The Adventures of Mabel, by Harry Thurston Peck, illustrated by Meg Wohlberg, published New York Graphic Society 1963, 192 pages, 5x8"? "Ill-tempered giants and talking horses are all in a day's work for Mabel, an interpid heroine who copes with stupendous problems absolutely unruffled. Age 6-10." (HB Apr/63 p.219) It was originally published in the 1890s and was reprinted in 1997 - here's the information for the reprint: The publisher, Greenhouse Books , December 10, 1997  "This facsimile edition with 7 full-color plates charms today's young readers as powerfully as the original did its audience after publication in 1896. Wondrous events, magic, humor, and heroism all embellish this series of tales. Not one  dull sentence mars its colorfulness. Mabel is a friend to Everything Well Meaning, most especially animals, both wild and tame, with whom she communicates by a secret call that a delightful lizard taught her. Among the Adventures: Mabel tames an unruly horse, Rex; Rex is stolen, and Towser, the dog, turns detective; Mabel caters to her Animal Friends at her birthday picnic; Mean Spiders ensnare Mabel; Mabel's good friend, The Grey Rat, saves her life; Mabel is kind to the Frogs, and they reciprocate; A Good Wolf and a Bad Wolf play their parts; The Brownie gives Mabel a difficult choice of only one present; Mabel visits a Castle and  encounters a fearsome Giant."
M109 mabel: there's also Eliza and the Elves, by Rachel Field, published Macmillan 1926, but that seems to be a collection of stories and poems.
Harry Thurston Peck, The Adventures of Mabel, 1986, reprint.  Finally, after 40 years I have found Mabel again!  I purchased a reprint (Greenhouse Publishing) through the National Review Book Service and just read it this afternoon.  It was every bit as enchanting as I remember.  Mabel is a wonderful heroine: courageous, kind, and resourceful.   I delight in the fact that she is such a strong female character, even though she was created in the 1890s!  She certainly embodies the qualities we want to see in our children today, both male and female.  Thank you for reuniting me with this wonderful story!

Seaman, Agusta Huiell, The Adventure of the Seven Keyholes, 1926.
Augusta Huiell Seaman, Adventure Of The Seven Keyholes, 1926.  I could not find a description, only the above information.
Augusta Huiell Seaman, The adventure of the seven keyholes, 1925, 1926.  You were right about the author!  Book is about 150 pp.
S227 Sounded familiar to me and Google led me to a copyright renewal notice: The Adventure Of The Seven Keyholes Augusta Huiell Seaman  26Mar26:A883817  29Jan54:R124914

Hi there!  OK, I read a book while I was in elementary school in the sixth grade.  It must have been a juvenile/young readers book. This was in 1985, so it was published before this date.  As I remember it was a story where you would read a page of a detective like story and on the opposite page there was a detailed black and white sketch picture.  The pictures were ones like the Where is Waldo picture series from the Burger King Restaurants, except in the book I am trying to remember they were only in Black and white and you had to find the robber. The best I can remember it is that there was a robber/thief and we the reader may have been the detective.  I remember there being a trunk and the robber in a picture, a diamond and a robber in a picture, and the robber and a chimney in a picture.  It was a pretty thick book.   Since you had to study the pictures it took forever to finish.  It seems as though it could have been classified as a game like book.  If you can provide any help that would
be great, I will keep brainstorming thanks!

I think the answer to B51 might be The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang.  I haven't read this book, but sold a copy on Ebay a few months ago, and realised after I sold it that I wish I had kept it :)  It was a paperback, and like the person described, a mystery story in which text was on one side, and comic-like drawings on the other that had some sort of puzzle to go along with the book... It didn't look like Where's Waldo to me, though, but maybe Burger King had a different kind of Where's Waldo.  The book looked *very* nifty and I could see someone really liking it.
Hi There!  I posted B 51 and it looks like you solved the mystery. I just bought The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang book, and am pleased to tell you this is the one.  Boy how memories fade.  Now seeing it again it seems like only yesterday.
Press, Hans Jurgen.  The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang. Illustrated by Illlustrated By Author.  Prentice-Hall, 1965, 1977.  Reprinted by Scholastic in paperback.

Hans Jurgen Press, Adventures of the Black Hand Gang,  1980.  Guess where I found the title?  Right here at Loganberry's "Stump the Bookseller: Solved Mysteries."  I decided to just start at "A" and go through them one by one, hoping by chance someone else had posted and solved the same story.  Lucky for me, it was in the "A's".  Now I just need to find a copy!

I am looking for a children's book about an artist that mixes colors.  I think the main character's name is Angelo.  As he mixes colors, there are transparency overlays in the book that you lay on top of each page revealing new colors that he has mixed together.  For example, one page might have blue on it, and as the artist mixes in yellow (you would lay the yellow overlay on the page) to reveal the new color (green).

Tison, Anette & Talus Tayler, The Adventures of the Three Colors, 1971. This story published by World Publishing Company features Herbie as an artist and Angelo as his dog.  Herbie painted colored animals, and when the transparent pages were overlapped, a new animal was formed.  A blue elephant and a yellow dog formed a green fish.  At the end of the story, Herbie paints a large yellow flower, a pink flower, and a blue flower, and when the pages are overlapped it forms one flower with all the colors of the rainbow.
Adventure of the three colors, circa 1971. Thank you so much! This *is* the book I was looking for!  This website is so helpful- thank you to everyone who read the description, but especially to the person who identified it. Consider it solved :-)

I am looking for a book I read in elementary in the 1950's. I think it was a 6th grade literature book. Had a grey cover. I used it in Clifton, NJ. Many storied were included. Example: The sun and wind, trying to get the person to take his coat off.. Which one of them could do it. Could you look for me?

I remember such a book:  the illustrations were incredible, the faces on the wind and sun were wide-eyed.  This may be Aesop's Fables collection, though I don't know author.
This definitely is Aesop's Fables. The author is rather obviously Aesop, but I don't know who was responsible for this particular collection. These fables are great with handy morals to be explained when reading to children.
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Solved: Aesop's Fables
in 1970 i was 7 years old i had a big book of aesops fabels it came with a record album that narrated the short fables it was a oversized book with beautiful pictures

Aesop's Fables. (Here's a possibility--  no info on the book, though.) Columbia Junior Book & Record Library / 12-19-0005 / Louis Untermeyer (adapter) Marshall Izen (performer, composer) James Timmens (conductor) / Contents: Introduction -- The gnat on the bull's horn -- The grasshopper and the ant -- The lioness and the vixen -- The boy and the wolf -- The lion's share -- The fox and the grapes -- The cat and the mice -- The goose and the golden eggs -- The dog and the shadow -- The eagle and the tortoise -- The dog in the manger -- The jackdaw's fine feathers -- The hungry wolf and the lanb -- The country maid and the mild pail -- The lion and the mouse -- The town mouse and the country mouse -- The fox and the crow -- The strength of the wind and sun -- The crow and the pitcher -- The lions and the hares -- The cunning cat and his company -- The great and little fishes -- The hungy lion and the wise fox -- The hare and the tortoise -- The miller, the son, and the donkey.
Columbia did issue this as a book/12" LP combo. The book was a Giant Golden Book, 92 pp., selected/adapted by Louis Untermeyer with color illustrations by Alice & Martin Provensen.  It contains 40 fables (I didn't count them in the previous solution, but it looks like it's probably the same).

John Steinbeck, The Affair at 7 Rue de M. A review is here.

I read the book I'm describing as a pre-teen in the early to mid 90s. I have absolutely no idea when the book was published, though. In this book, the main character is a girl whose family owns a furniture factory. The town is named for the family. The other characters in the book are the girl's snotty female cousin, who's about the same age, the girl's grandfather, who the girls is extremely close with, and the girl's yonger male cousin, who the girl hangs out with. The book starts off with the girl's birthday party which his combined with her snotty cousin's. The girl receives a clock that used to belong to her now deceased grandmother from her grandfather. In the book, the girl's snotty aunt complains about the girl's appearance and also about how the grandfather has let his house go since the grandmother dies. So the girl and her male cousin go over to his house to clean things up but they ruin things instead. The male cousin and the girl eventually get into a fight and the girl gets a black eye. At the end, the grandfather throws a party where he gives everyone fortune cookies with his own handwritten fortunes. Thanks for your help.

Ann R. Blakeslee, After the fortune cookies, 1989.  I saw this stumper and said, "I've read that book!" but I had no idea what it was called, either!  Luckily, I was able to find it.  "The summer Allison turns twelve brings many disturbing changes, as she fights to protect her beloved grandfather from the schemes of other family members and seeks the courage to stand up to the taunts of her spiteful cousin Carolina." Another summary: "The Godolphins are an important family in Godolphinville, or so Allison has always been told. Her pushy Aunt Bee uses this fact to keep all the Godolphins in line. But when Allison turns 12 she begins to realize that everyone, even Aunt Bee, faces problems and uncertainties. The girl's beloved grandfather, who guides the family with sage fortune-cookie messages, seems to be slipping into senility, and Allison is fearful when Aunt Bee decides he needs "taking in hand." Allison and her cousin Robby cook up a scheme to foil Aunt Bee's plans, but Grandfather ultimately proves capable of looking after himself."

Looking for title & author of sci-fi/fantasy short story, maybe written from late 70's to early 90's. Takes place at a time when the young have been completely dominated to the point of enslavement, by the adults. The old have become so envious of the young that they basically "took over". Main character of story is a young girl, she narrates the story. She is with a group of young girls who are being trained in some way by a group of older people, for the role they will be allowed to have in society when they too are older. They are treated cruelly by the older people. One part of the story involves the girls having to watch a film of what appears to be a beautiful young woman, but when the woman removes all sorts of devices & makeup she is revealed to be an old crone. At end of story the main girl and a younger girl "run away" but they are really still in the same building, hiding somewhere and won't come out. The younger girl dies of starvation/dehydration while they are hiding, and at the end the older girl is still hiding with basically the same outcome in store for her.

Kate Wilhelm, The Funeral, 1972.  This short story is in Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison.
I'm sure this is the story, as I had Again, Dangerous Visions for years and read most of the stories in it, and I also was pretty sure the author of my stumper was female. Need to get a copy of that book again. Interesting that author is Kate Wilhelm, as I just read one of her more recent stories and it also has become one of my favorites. Thanks so much! Awesome website!

I have sent in a couple of stumpers(one of which you solved--Hurrah!!) but have hesitated to send this one because it is very vague and I had it all mixed in with the plot of the Mrs. PiggleWiggle books; but here goes: The book is about two elderly ladies,??sisters??, who have a long standing feud.  I believe they were the great-aunts of the children involved and had magical abilities.  One of them apparently believes the other stole or lost one of her magical items. I think there are magic safety pins involved which were apparently used as diaper pins.  The children's mother remembers listening to wonderful, magical stories as a baby. They reconcile in the end because the magical item(the pins??) were merely misplaced.  Thanks in advance.  I also think there might have been something buried in a creek.(or not!!)

Pretty sure this is Aggie, Maggie, and Tish by Betty K. Erwin, 1965 Three old ladies (sisters?) with a touch of magic - they may have been one or two other books about them
 I was able to get a hold of a copy of this book and read it today.  Of course I had some of the details garbled (can you imagine that!!) but I am reasonably sure this is the book I remember.  Thank-you so much.
Aggie, Maggie, and Tish, by Betty K. Erwin, illustrated by Paul Kennedy, published Little, Brown 1965, 154 pages. "After many years and far travels, Aggie, Maggie, and Tish had returned to their home town. The Eliot children discovered - as their parents had done before them - that the three were much more than just old-fashioned-looking little old ladies. But how much magic could be attributed to them the young Eliots were not sure. Was the tiny bulldog real or a toy? Did Jim truly fall asleep in a bear's den? Was Ginny's pet really a wolf cub? A light-hearted introduction to the every-day kind of magic that will lead naturally to the books by Edward Eager and E. Nesbit." (HB Dec/65 p.629)

John Blaine, Rick Brant series.  The two boys, the plane, and the science angle are making me think of the Rick Brant series, which started in 1947.  However, the boys in that series are from a scientific installation on an island off the East Coast, not a ranch.  Might be worth checking www.rickbrant.com to see if anything looks familiar, though!
E.J. Craine, The Airplane Boys at Cap Rock.  Looks like my previous idea about the Rick Brant series was incorrect. Here's a description of The Airplane Boys at Cap Rock (by E.J. Craine, World Syndicate Publishing Co. Cleveland, Ohio - copyright 1930):  "This is the second book of Jim and Bob the Airplane Boys, and their many adventures at home in Texas. They discover who mysterious Don Haurea is, and they get a chance to present their friends, the Canadian Mounted Police, with the promised horseshoes."
Thank you for the suggestion but the book is not one of the Rick Brant series. To the best of my recollection, it was a pre-World War II book.
Congratulations and thank you! The book I was searching for is the one by E. J. Craine.

I'm looking for a book that I think was a Parents Magazine Press book--about a boy and his stuffed zebra (or horse?). I believe the zebra's name was Alexander. Whenever the boy got into mischief he would blame the zebra. Does this sound familiar?

This is the book you seek:
Littledale, Harold.  Alexander.   Illustrated by Tom Vroman. New York: Parents' Magazine Press, 1964.  I've had it before, it's really cute.  Unfortunately, I don't have it presently.  I'll let you know when I get another in stock.

The second book was about a boy and horse. The horse was striped in many different colors.  All I remember of the book was the boy scolding the horse. On the cover was the boy and the multi-striped horse. I believe both these books came out in the late 1960s. I would appreciate any suggestions on how to locate the titles and authors of these two books.

*later* I don't remember the horse being stuffed, but I do remember the name. It is Alexander. Thank you very much for the information.

Interpreting Condition Grades

Littledale, Harold. Alexander.  Illustrated by Tom Vroman.  Parents' Magazine Press, 1964.  Some wear to head and foot of spine and edges of covers.  Front free endpaper is slightly ripped.  VG-.  <SOLD>

A favorite book of mine as a child was about a crocodile, who lived with an old woman in the Victorian period. The house was shared with a yak, a "magical" mouse, and other animals.  I remember a part where there was a storm, and the crocodile was out in it, and got sick. I cannot for the life of me, remember the title.  My brother and I read it in the early 1970's.  I remember that the crocodile felt bad because he was trying to get help, but everyone was afraid of him in town.  Please help!!! I'd love to find it to share with my children.

This is it!  Sanders, Martha.  Alexander and the Magic Mouse. Illustrated by Philippe Fix.&n