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C. Walter Hodges, The Namesake,  1964.  I think it might be this book. It  is about a lame boy who becomes scribe to King Alfred.
Here's an online synopsis of The Namesake:  "a delightful old retelling of the Viking invasion of England and the defense of Wessex by King Alfred. The perspective is that of a one-legged boy who was cared for in a monestary until the King of East Anglia was killed in a nearby battle. Then Alfred began a journey, following a dream that told him to give a certain bridle to his namesake. Though "just" a cripple, Alfred proves himself to be the master of his own fate, a boy who uses his mind to make up for his lack of muscle, even as his namesake King Alfred uses guerrilla warfare tactics against the much larger army of the Northmen. Aimed at young adults, this book is well-written and engaging- an excellent choice for teenagers who are interested in history and warfare."  Although the synopsis doesn't mention a witch, standing stones or computers, it certainly sounds as if it's worth investigating!
It looks like it's been solved! Thanks so much. I can't wait to read it again -- let me know if you can find a copy.
Robert Newman, Merlin's Mistake.  Even though this is solved, there was a stonehenge/computer scene in Merlin's Mistake - another book about a boy on a quest to find his father. Perhaps the reader mixed the two books up? The title refers to the boy's companion, Tertius, who has been give "all future knowledge" by Merlin.

Betty MacDonald, Nancy and Plum, 1952.  The suggestion of sisters made me think Nancy and Plum right away, but I'd all but forgotten the dolls (I recall mainly that Nancy has red hair and Plum looks terrible in green, and that Nancy tells Plum her heart will turn black if she lies - I love this book!) but checked my copy & sure enough think this is it!
I am the poster for the stumper that was solved as Nancy and Plum.  I just wanted to let you know that this IS the correct book.  As soon as I saw the illustration of spoiled, fat Maybelle with her ringlets, the memories came flooding back!! Thanks again; that makes you five for five in solving my stumpers!!
Nancy and Plum, by Betty MacDonald, illustrated by Hildegarde Hopkins, published Lippincott 1952, reprinted Buccaneer 1997, 190 pages. "The wonderful Christmas story of two small waifs - inmates of Mrs. Monday's select home for orphans, brimming with Betty MacDonald's gift of story-telling and gift of laughter. Ages 8-12." (HB Dec/52)
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Nancy and Plum are the main characters. Nancy is the older sibling.  Mother may be deceased.  Father always away.  Nancy and Plum live with older, mean woman and her mean daughter/niece.  Father sends gifts which are given to mean girl. Nancy and Plum discover a box with their names on it and know the mean girl's dolls were meant for them.  Book may have had a few drawings.  Mean girl had ringlets or dolls had ringlets.  Late elementary to middle school reading level.  Hard bound, maybe yellow.

MacDonald, Betty, Nancy and Plum, 1952.  What are the chances?
Betty MacDonald, Nancy and Plum, 1952.  Could this be it?  "Nancy and Plum" is a children's book that Betty MacDonald first published in 1952. It is a story Betty told her daughters, Joan and Anne, each night at bedtime, making it up as she went along. A delightful old -fashioned Christmas story about two sisters, Nancy, 10 and Plum, 8.
Betty Bard MacDonald, Nancy and Plum, 1952.  Pretty sure this is a Solved Mystery.

Laird, Helene, Nancy keeps house, 1947. Nancy (rather than Susan) is the pre-teen girl who is ratherlazy and resentful, but changes as she learns more responsibility from her mother.  It's a delightful "how to" book, almost a domestic science primer of its era!  At the end of the book, baby Hal (if I remember his name correctly) is born.  There are two sequels Nancy goes to college, and Nancy gets a job which are hard to find and very pricey!
 I am so thrilled, that is definitely what I am looking for, it's been so many years, many thanks.

There is a Scholastic book called Candy Stripers by Lee Wyndham, but I also remember reading a book with a candy striper in it and her name was "Honey."  I don't remember the name of the second book, but maybe that name will give someone else some ideas.  I think the picture on the front of the second book was blue and white with a blonde-haired girl on it.
This book could be Candy Stripers by Lee Wyndham, published in 1958.
I remember reading a book (and I remember no details whatsoever, but I thought she was a candy-striper-type).  I just remember it was called Cherry Ames
How about Vicky Barnes, Junior Hospital Volunteer: the story of a candy striper by Alice Ross Colver, Dodd, Mead, 1966. Cherry Ames was not a cnady striper but a full-fledged nurse who really got around -- over the course of 20+ books, she was Cherry Ames, Jungle Nurse...Island Nurse...Rural Nurse...Rest Home  Nurse...Dude Ranch Nurse...Army Nurse...etc.
The book Candy Striper by Lee Wyndham is not the book I am looking for.  My book was a preschool age/easy reader.
C122 candy striper: maybe a bit late is Nina Nurse, Hospital Helper, by Joan Potter Elwart, illustrated by Stina Nagel, published NY Whitman 1967, a Peepul Pals Playstory Book, colour illus. 4x5" No plot description.
A little more info on Nina Nurse, Hospital Helper:  I have the "Betsy(?) Ballerina" entry in the Peepul Pals series, and the back cover has photographs of very 1960's-looking dolls costumed as the heroines of all the books in the series (a nurse, a bride, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.)--I believe each book originally came with a matching doll.  The interior illustrations are regular drawings, not photographs, but like the dolls, the drawings have absolutely enormous heads.
Sherman, Diane, Nancy Plays Nurse, 1965.  The story of a little girl who dreams of being a nurse. Her  older sister is a candy striper. At the end of the book she recieves a candy striper uniform for her birthday. This is a Rand McNally Elf Book.
I read a comment on your web site about this children's book and I just wanted to tell you that I too was inspired to become a nurse by reading that book as a child. I've been a nurse now for 15 years and I still remember that adorable story!!

Esther Brann, "Nanette Visits the Chateau", Childcraft 1954.  This was my favorite story too!  I made my mother read it to me so many times that the poor story became a family joke.  It was published in 1954 in Childcraft vol. 5, "Life In Many Lands."    P.S. - Actually, this story was reprinted in "Childcraft" but originally appeared in the book, Nanette of the Wooden Shoes, by Esther Brann, published (I believe) in the 1920s.
Harriet, you found my story! Or at least your site did. Thank You!!  The stumper is solved.  (Or as Chief Inspector Clousseau would say, ("the kess is soll - vedd").

One of the stories I remember from this book was the one the cover was based on - a boy somehow becomes haunted/plagued by flies (maybe he was obsessed with them or tortured them?) Kind of like a fly version of Hitchcock's "Birds". At one point (the end, I think) either he or a family member walks in his bedroom to find his bed totally covered with flies......also, another especially creepy story was about a girl who goes to a birthday party at a friends house only to realize there is a ghost of a little girl at the party, too, who only she can see! She first sees her in the backyard by the gate, then, as the kids are bobbing for apples, the ghost pushes the girl's head under the water & tries to drown her! This one would totally freak me out!!
Herbert Van Thal, editor, The Second Bedside Book of Strange Stories, 1976.  This is a shot in the dark, but I thought I would suggest it since no one else has made any suggestions.  The horror stories in this volume include one called "Flies" by J.H. Snelling, so it might be a possibility.  Other authors and stories in the book include Franklin, S. "The strange gift of Sidney Higgins", Aickman, R. "The houses of the Russians", Harrison, H. "The last train", Barker, A. L. "Happy event", Malisson, R. "Repression", Greer, Morag "A cross at her head and feet", and Hall, W. "Long winter's night"
Sorry, but thats not the book. Thanks for trying, tho! Anyone else?
I was the one who posted this stumper - and I just found the book! It's called A Nasty Piece of Work and other Ghost Stories by Lance Salway. The pic of the flies on the bed is on the back cover, and the big fly is on the front. Thanks for your help anyway! Your site is aweseome!

A wordless picture book, Pancakes for Breakfast, by Tomie dePaola, centers on an old woman making pancakes (milking the cow, mixing the batter, etc.); ultimately, she ends up having breakfast at a neighbor's.  No correspondence, though -- only a page showing the recipe for the pancakes (the only text in the book).   It's illustrated in soft colors -- pinks and peaches and tans.
Majorie Sharmat, Nate the Great.  Is there any chance this is any one of the Nate The Great books?  He always writes a letter to his mother, and he always eats pancakes.

National Geographic on Indians of the Americas: a color-illustrated record/ Matthew W. Stirling, with contributions by Hiram Bingham ... [et al].  Illustrated with full-color reproductions of 149 paintings by W. Langdon Kihn and H.M. Herget.  The Society, 1965 (7th printing), c1955.

Macfarlane, Barbara, Naughty Agapanthus, 1966.  I am not familiar with this Australian book, but it was the only older children's book that came up in my search for the word Agapanthus: "Agapanthus, a naughty little girl, would not dress warmly and learned a valuable lesson when she became ill and disliked her medicine."  From other posts I've seen about it, she fell in a pond.
Barbara Macfarlane.  Thank you so much.. that sounds like it.. now to find myself a copy..  once again, Thanks.   $2 well spent :)

Naughty Little Goldilocks.  I hope this helps the one who is looking for the rest of the Naughty Little Goldilocks poem.  My grandmother used to tell me this when she tucked me in at night when I slept over.  Here is what I have: "Naughty little Goldie Locks left her home one day, wandering up and down the wood soon she lost her way.  Such a pretty house she found all the knobs were bright.  To the door a pathway led roses left and right.  On the table stood three bowls, one of them was small.  'Porridge, oh' said Goldie Locks and she ate it all.  Then she sat upon the chairs , very big were two.  So, she chose the smallest one, sat and tumbled through.  Very frightened up she jumped left the broken chair.  Thought she'd see the bedroom next, so she climbed the stair.  Such a pretty room she found, three beds in a row.  Two were bigger than the third, all were white as snow.  One by one she tried them all, liked the small one best.  'This is nice,' said Goldie Locks lying down to rest.  By and by three bears came in.  'Who's been here?' they cried.  'Look, my porridge all is gone!' Baby Bearlet sighed.  'Just look here!' cried Father Bear, 'Who has been on these?  First on mine and then on yours without a single please!'  Goldie Locks from slumber sound wakened in a fright.  One by one she saw the bears slowly come in sight.  Quick as thought poor Goldie Locks jumped from out her bed, leapt upon the chest of drawers through the window fled."  I hope this is helpful.  I am aware it may not be accurate and welcome any corrections.  I asked my grandmother to copy this down for me years ago as her health was failing.  I am happy to have it now as she has gone on to be with the Lord.
Thank you! We have been off line for a few months, and when I checked your site today, there it was!  I called my grandmother right away (I'll send her a copy in the mail) and read her the final four lines she has been trying to remember for more than 50 years. I had nearly given up. Grandma is now 83 years old, and she was very pleased to have this mystery solved. The words she remembers and the words from your site are nearly identical. A family mystery has been solved! Thanks again. 

Mary Higgins Clark, Where are the Children?, late 70s.  It's certainly possible I'm wrong, since the poster is states "after 1980" and only remembers one child.  I distinctly remember reading this book in high school (class of 79) and there were two sets of two children.  Also, though the mother has taken on a new identity, she is hiding from the suspicion that she murdered her two children from a first marriage,and her abusive husband (the real culprit) has  faked his own death. Her second pair of children disappears, and the woman - Nancy - must try to locate her kids, hidden in the woods and slated for rape and drowning, while her new husband and friends struggle with the evidence that she's a serial child  murderer.  This is not a children's book, but the fact that the mother is remembered as the protagonist - a child-in-jeopardy story written for children *must* have a child as a focal character or the kids won't want to read it - indicates that the one sought isn't, either and Clark's style is readily accessible down to junior-high reading levels if no adults try to keep it out of the kids' hands.
This one was not a Mary Higgins Clark  I don't remember author & title, but have a few more details: Wicked husband was a drug lord who kept their baby guarded round the clock. Heroine learned how to escape her husband from a party guest (private detective), who told her all about how to steal identities. Hero was a pilot who she hired to fly her to evil husband's retreat so that she could steal their baby back. They rescue the baby and fall in love. Bad hubbie wants her dead because she knows about his drug activities and because she had the nerve to run away. That's all I remember...it was totally a romantic suspense novel.
Brian Garfield, Necessity.  This is one of my fav's also!!!! It was also made in to a TV Movie starring  Loni Anderson-- personally i thought the book was better then the movie!!!!!! Pretty interesting material if you want to learn how to disappear and get a new identity!!!!
Brain Garfield, Necessity.  Wife escapes drug lord hubby --who only married her because of her good bone structure and very little family still living( in other words she had no one she could run too). She is unable to leave with child-- but does manage to leave with mr's dirty money-- she gets new identities--using dead childrens( who passed away at either birth or b4 they were a yr old-uses old newpaper obits)> once she has new id's(several of these) she starts setting up several different places to live and also starts laundrying mr's drug money. She tries to learn how to fly--  but flight instructor realizes that she will never get the hang of it, so he helps get child back--They go to hubbies country home ( fortress ) -- nanny is built like a linebacker-- they knock her out and take child-- they almost do not get away -- when helicopter shows up on the scene trapping plane on the ground== police show up due to a drug delivery tip off( from her) and then they take off with kid and are gone.   Think this was also a made for tv movie with Loni Anderson?????
Brian Garfield, Necessity. one of my favs -- written by the same author who did Death Wish--- mom runs away from mob husband -- sets up several identities in several locations-- then plans to learn to fly so she can go back and get baby daughter-- flight instructor-- helps her get child back-- and also gives tips to police on recent drug delivery -- hubby's arrested and they get away.

Joan Aiken, A Necklace of Raindrops and Other Stories.  A collection of short stories with illustrations.  In the story of  "A Necklace of Raindrops", a little girl is given a special necklace.  Every raindrop on the necklace gives her special powers.  I forget the middle part of the story but it ends where the girl's teardrop forms the last raindrop on the necklace.
I think the book listed in the reply might be the one. 

Howard R. Garis, Neddie And Beckie Stubtail(NY: AL Burt,1913)  Neddie and Beckie Stubtail (Two Nice Bears) (NY: RF Fenno,1914)  This looks like 2 editions of the same book.
I just returned to my office this morning to find your response. You are just incredible.  Thank you so much.  I shall pursue the task of trying to locate this book.  The copy which we had during our growing up years vanished years ago. My sister's birthday is today and this news will make a wonderful gift.
Thank you again.

Mendoza, George, illustrated by Doris Smith, Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse.  NY Putnam 1980's. My guess would be this book, a much-remembered and now very expensive book about an animal architect, each of whose houses are specially suited to the animal client. The illustrations are said to be very distinctive and memorable. Never seen it myself.
Aileen Fisher.   Illustrated by Susan Bonners, Anybody Home? 1980's.  You might want to take a look at this one.  The description and dates are about right.
I submitted the A112 stumper, and you have posted it as "solved", but I'm not sure it is. I have been online, been to large children's booksellers (in Canada) and have not been able to see the cover of "Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse" or "Anybody Home?", both suggested as solutions. I do not know whether either of these are the correct book. The latter does ring a bell, but again I need to see some or any artwork. The first book is very rare, out of print and expensive, so not easy to obtain - which I would bother to if I knew it was the right book, but an expensive risk to take if it isn't. I don't know if you can be of any assistance in this area, or if you can keep it posted til I know it's the right book - some more people might have suggestions... or perhaps you know where online I can get a more detailed description of these books? I believe I have looked at the library of congress listings already.
This has to be it! Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse! ( 1981-Grosset &Dunlap) by George Mendoza, illustrated by Doris Susan Smith. Henrietta Mouse is the world famous decorator, designer, builder, artist,etc who designs fabulous and elaborate homes for all the creatures with the assistance of her little mouse helpers. Trout's underwater residence resembles the lost Atlantis and Mole has a great spiral staircase leading up to his entrance! Pig's baronial home look like it's straight from England- complete with formal gardens. Wonderful and clever designs!
I noticed you moved A112 back to the solutions page, which was psychic of you as I just discovered that Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse! is indeed the book I was looking for... I finally got it through a library and was able to leaf through. Unfortunately it's a very rare book and averages at $300 USD! But my mind is finally at rest. Thank you. You have a great, great service. I am recommending your site and store to all the book-lovers in my life.
Extra Information: Hi there! I finally found this beloved book from my childhood by logging onto your website BUT I know the book as having the title of House by Mouse, as it was originally released and sold as in Australia.  I now have copies of both House by Mouse and Need A House? Call Ms Mouse and they have slight differences in terms of language style and format but the illustrations, however, remain the same in both books.

Walsh, Chad, Nellie and Her Flying Crocodile,  Harper, 1956
N67 Probably Simont, Marc  Nellie and her flying crocodile
Marc Simont is the illustrator, Chad Walsh the author.
Chad Walsh, Nellie and her Flying Crocodile, 1956.  I haven't read it, but there can't be too many books about Nellie and Her Flying Crocodile.  Author is Chad Walsh.  1956.
Chad Walsh, Nellie and Her Flying Crocodile, 1956.  From the WorldCat (library) database: Title: Nellie and her flying crocodile. Author(s): Walsh, Chad, 1914- Publication: New York, Harper  Year: 1956 Description: 179 p. illus. 21 cm. Language: English Standard No: LCCN: 56-5149 Class Descriptors: LC: PZ7.W167 Responsibility: Pictures by Marc Simont.

Louisa May Alcott, Nelly's Hospital. Its a short story written during or shortly after the Civil War. Nelly is inspired to start a hospital for animals after her brother Will, a wounded soldier, tells her about the nurses in his hospital. I sent in "Nelly's Hospital" as the answer to this stumper earlier.  I think the person asking for it must have read it in  Volume 6 of "The Junior Classics" "Stories About Boys and Girls".
Louisa May Alcott, A Modern Cinderella. This sounds like the story Nelly's Hospital found in a collection here.
This is it. Thank you!  I'd never have guessed it was so well known--it seemed so obscure at the time!

Nelson Makes A Face, Cohen, Burton, 1978.  "A fairy godmother attempts to reform a mischievous little boy by freezing three expressions on his face."
Burton Cohen, Nelson Makes a Face, 1978, copyright.  Thank you for figuring out which book I was thinking of!!

Jeanette Gilge, Never Miss a Sunset, c. 1980.  I believe the book you are looking for is Never Miss a Sunset by Jeanette Gilge.  I read this book several times while in high school.

Neverending Story
This book was about a girl/young woman who finds an old diary in an antique store.  She reads a page a day, on the date that she's actually living, and soon realizes she's living the words written in the diary, and that she has to help the author in some way.  She succeeds, and when she opens the diary after that, all the pages are blank, except for the last entry that says something like "Thank You."  I seem to remember it being a black paperback, and I know I read it in the late eighties.  PLEASE help me, this is driving me crazy!! Thanks!

(i think - about someone opening an old book and living it, with the text disappearing at the end except thank-you")  this isn't an answer, but maybe another hint. i have seen a children's movie  with that theme - although i thought it was a young boy? just can't remember  for sure and i don't recall any big name actors/actresses in it.
Not a solution, but I think the one about a boy and a book is Michael Ende's Neverending Story - which was filmed - and is not quite the same as the girl and the diary one, which sounds rather like Vivien Alcock, though I can't think of a specific title. Good luck!
The last person is talking about The Neverending Story, a children's classic novel, original edition (in alternating green and red ink) now quite valuable - although it is also published as a regular paperback. It is an incredibly intricate, well-written and profound book... about a boy who discovers a book called The Neverending Story in an antique shop, is compelled to steal it, and finds out when reading it that he can interact with the story, and ends up in the second half of the story himself, creating worlds and writing events as he goes. He is thanked by Fantastica, the world in the book, for "saving their world", but it doesn't sound like this is the book you're looking for, although quite similar. 

The New Baby is a Little Golden book illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.  It  is about a little boy who is awaiting the birth of a sibling, and there is a picture of him sitting in the window, watching for his parents to bring the baby home.    There is another book called Where Did The Baby Go? which is also illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.  That one is about a little girl who finds a picture of herself as a baby, but there aren't any illustrations of her looking out of a window.
Eloise Wilkins, Baby Dear,  1962. This description sounds very similar to Baby Dear, which, I think was latered reprinted and renamed The New Baby.
Eloise Wilkens, The New Baby, 1975, reprint.  When I first searched The New Baby, I didn't think it was the right one because I didn't recognize the cover. However, I found that there are actually three different covers and the one I was look for is from 1975 and shows the mother, little boy, and the new baby. Thanks so much! This site is awesome!!!

Norman Lloyd, arr., The New Golden Song Book, 1955.  This book has a black cover background, and mary Blair did the illustrations - with her trademark kids with tiny feet. Both songs noted are included.  A Giant Golden Book.

Mitchell, Lucy Sprague, The New House in the Forest. 1946.  This is a Little Golden Book illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.  The cover shows a little house in the middle of a forest with a father sitting on the front lawn a young boy, girl and squirrel sitting with him and a mother in an upstairs window.  This must be the book.

I think this is Margot Austin (author of Churchmouse Stories), from Churchkitten Tales.
HI.  I have the Churchkitten Tales and it does not include Topsy, Turvy and Tink.  I am also looking for this book.  Please keep trying.
I also though of another one.  This would be a small book like a Little Golden Book.  It's about a  cat named Tina and her three kittens, Topsy, Turvy and Tink.  Thanks Again.
William Gottlieb, The New Kittens, 1957.  This is a Little Golden Book about Topsy, Turvy and Tink 

Not betting much on this, but one of the Tucker kids in Jo Mendel's Tucker series was called Merry. She wasn't a teenager, though, so this probably isn't it. There is a book - Merry By Name, by J. Wayne, illustrated by M. Palmer, published London, Heinemann 1964, 186 pages, which may be closer. "Merry Oppenheimer, only daughter of Cyrus Q. Oppenheimer, a wealthy American, comes to stay with a happy-go-lucky English family, with whom money is far less plentiful. Yet the very feeling of belonging to each other, which was Kate's, Hop's, Rupert's and Mark's birthright seems to make Merry subdued and thoughtful, and later when the family visit the Isle of Wight and go to see two elderly ladies, Merry seems to know the house. Eventually she admits that she is adopted, and the old ladies think that her real mother may have been a local girl who married an American soldier. This proves to be true and all ends happily when Merry's adopted parents decide to make their home in England." (JB Nov/64 p.325)
Dodie Smith, The New Moon With the Old, 1960, is a novel for adults about an eccentric family in England.  The youngest daughter is a teenager named Merry who wants to be an actress and runs away.  She dies her hair red, and on the road to London stops at a country house where the family is preparing an amateur theater production.  They take her in, and she eventually becomes engaged to the son of the house, but ultimately she goes back to her family, leaving a note for her "fiance" explaining that she's only 14.  Merry's story is only one part of this book.

Christabel Mattingley, New Patches for old. Girl's name is Patricia. I'm sure this is the right book, it all fits. She finds it difficult to fit in at first for several reasons, particularly as she is poor and shabby. There's another girl called Patricia in the class who very much resents someone else with her name, and makes things difficult for her.
Christobel Mattingley, New Patches for Old, 1988. Wow ! Talk about quick service. New Patches for old is the correct answer. Thank you so much to whoever it was that figured it out.  I have managed to find a copy of the book and am looking forward to reading it again and then having my daughters read it to.  Thanks again.

The New Reader's Digest Treasury For Young Readers, 1963.
Solved! Thank you so much!

Emmet Rowland, New World for Nellie, 1952.  Nellie is an antique steam railway engine whose parts can be rearranged and adapted to anything from airship to stern-wheeler.  She was well-known to the British public well before this volume was published in the U.S.  In it, Nellie becomes a flying machine and flies to America.  Rowland is a noted British artist.

Orgel, Doris, Next Door to Xanadu
K19 kubla khan kids: reaching here, but maybe A Sundae with Judy, by Frieda Friedman, illustrated by Carolyn Haywood, published Morrow 1949, 192 pages. "Eleven-year-old Judy loved to help her father in his candy store, making sodas and sundaes, treating herself to good things more often than not. She knew all the children in the busy New York neighborhood and when a new family moved next door she was eager to know them too. She made friends with gentle Mayling whose father ran a laundry, and was eager to have Mayling join the Saturday Club. It was a sad disappointment when some of the other girls did not agree with her." (HB May/49 p.212) Maybe the Kubla Khan stories tie in with Mayling's ethnic heritage?
Doris Orgel, Next Door to Xanadu, 1969.  I ordered the book Next Door to Xanadu and it is the book I was looking for.  Thank you for your help.
Next Door to Xanadu, by Doris Orgel, illustrated by Dale Payson, published Harper 1970, 160 pages. "10-year-old Patricia is a city child; she has a lovable baby sister and understanding, sensitive parents. But Patricia has been ineffectual at making friends at school; overly plump and self-consciously lonely, she is fast becoming a compulsive eater. She longs to be willowy and slender; still more she dreams of having a special, particular friend. When Dorothy comes to live in the next-door apartment, Patricia realizes that her secret wishes and even her Halloween incantations have been productive. But Dorothy's sojourn is all too brief. Patricia is again threatened with loneliness; but now, having had a friend, she has learned to be one." (HB Feb/70 p.42)
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Two best friends---title may have been Best Friends---and the featured drink was an Egg Cream, which fascinated me and makes me think the setting was NYC. I also think they may have ordered it at a store counter, back when department stores served food. This is a book I read between 1974 and 1980. I would love to find a copy for my daughter.

Frieda Friedman, A Sundae With Judy, 1949. Judy's father owns a candy store with a soda fountain. She has sundaes there with all her friends.
Mary Stolz, The Noonday Friends. Possibly The Noonday Friends?  It's about two friends in New York City.
Mary Bard, Best Friends. There is a series of three books Best Friends, Best Friends in Summer, and Best Friends at School.  See the solved mysteries under B for more details- that might help you determine if these might be the books you are seeking.
Shirley Simon, Best Friend, 1970s.  Could be Best Friend by Shirley Simon.  About a girl living in a city whose best friend goes to charm school and dumps her for the "cool" girls she meets there.  I remember a scene where the 2 girls are ordering hot chocolate with whipped cream at a counter, I think, but they may have ordered egg creams.  I read it a long time ago!
Doris Orgel, Next Door to Xanadu, 1960.
It was absolutely positively Next Door to Xanadu. Thanks very much. It was worth the $2.00 and I even solved someone else's too! :)

Fife, Dale, Walk a Narrow Bridge, 1966.  I offer this title only as a possibility, as I have never read it.  The brief description sounds promising, though.  "The daughter of immigrant Alsatian farmers in Ohio falls in love with a second generation German boy who is going to college and is not approved of by her parents."
Norma Johnston, A Nice Girl Like You, 1980.  This was part of the Keeping Days series. This was the only one I ever read, but there are six books total.
Just wanted to let you know that Walk a Narrow Bridge is not the solution to this stumper. I own a copy, and the main characters' names are Tony and Lisala, and it does not take place during WWI. It is, however, a wonderful book despite it not being the one the requestor is looking for!
I just wanted to be more clear:  This book is definitely A Nice Girl Like You by Norma Johnston. I own it. It takes place in 1917.  The boy's name is Paul Hodge and the girl is Saranne Albright. Paul is considered trouble, but Saranne is drawn to him.  Saranne's Aunt Tish comes home after her British husband is killed in action.  Paul rescues a dachshund that was attacked because it's "German" and Aunt Tish's sad little daughter makes it her pet.  The Hodges used to have the German name of "Hartz". Part of the book is about a group putting on The Merchant of Venice.  Paul gets accused of stealing things and keeps losing his temper, but Saranne sticks up for him.  Paul's "father" is an abusive drunk and Paul gets arrested after getting in a fight with him. It turns out that Paul is actually the son of Mr. Hodge's unmarried daughter, now a movie star, and she steps up to help him after Saranne appeals to her.

G114 NICE LITTLE GIRLS by Elizabeth Levy and illustrated by Mordecai Gerstein, 1974. I thought I was the only one in the world to know this book! Jackie has a short haircut and doesn't wear dresses, so her teacher introduces her as a boy. But soon Jackie wishes she was a boy because they get to do the fun things, like build a box. Most of the girls in her class shun her, but she becomes friends with one of the girls who shares her secret - she has a train set.  And the parents do come and have a talk with the teacher. I got to meet Levy and Gerstein when I was very young, and Gerstein signed the copy of the book with an illustration of Jackie sticking out her tongue, and Levy signed to my sisters and I (six girls) with the words, "I bet you all are really nice girls". ~from a librarian
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I don't know the author or title of the book I am searching for.  I read it when I was a little girl and I was born in 1971.  It is about a girl who goes to school and everyone thinks she is a boy.  On the cover I believe it shows a picture of her with a baseball and bat and she is wearing a baseball cap.  I believe it's a pink or coral covered book.

This could be Josie's Home Run, by Ruth Gipson Plowhead. Josie's brother Joe gets sick, so Josie gets her hair cut and pretends to be him and plays in the big baseball game.
It sounds like you may be looking for NICE LITTLE GIRLS by Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Mordecai Gerstein, 1974. Jackie starts a new school, and because she has short hair and pants, she is teased that she is a boy. This is a very 70s book about unfair gender differences, and all the other girls wear dresses and have long hair, and don't get to do the cool things that the boys do, like build a box. Finally Jackie befriends a girl who
has a secret - she loves model trains (which is considered a boy activity). The cover is pink, with Jackie sticking her tongue out. ~from a librarian.
I just wanted to let you know my book stumper G393 and O112 (my mom wrote in as well) was solved!  The book is Nice Little Girls.  So, you can add one more to your “Solved” category. Thanks!  What a great website!
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This was a book my duaghter who was born in 1971 remembers and now wants to read to her own kids.  My other daughter was born in 1968 so I must have gotten it sometime between 1970 and 1977 (give or take). It was a book about a little girl, we think her name was Joanna and she had short hair and the other kids thought she was a boy.  She kept telling people, no I'm a girl.  It was a thin children's book with a lot of illustrations.  Both of my daughters and I have looked online and googled everything we can think of.  Then I heard about this web site.

It sounds like you may be looking for NICE LITTLE GIRLS by Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Mordecai Gerstein, 1974. Jackie starts a new school, and because she has short hair and pants, she is teased that she is a boy. This is a very 70s book about unfair gender differences, and all the other girls wear dresses and have long hair, and don't get to do the cool things that the boys do, like build a box. Finally Jackie befriends a girl who
has a secret - she loves model trains (which is considered a boy activity). The cover is pink, with Jackie sticking her tongue out. ~from a librarian.
I just wanted to let you know my book stumper G393 and O112 (my mom wrote in as well) was solved!  The book is Nice Little Girls.  So, you can add one more to your “Solved” category. Thanks!  What a great website!

Frances Salomon Murphy?, Runaway Alice. You might try this one- Alice is in foster care, staying on a farm. She wants dungarees rather than dresses.I don't remember the elbow grease, though. See solved stumpers as well.
This could be Runaway Alice, also called A Nickel for Alice by Frances Salomon Murphy( 1951?). She is a foster child looking for a home. Here placement with the older couple is only temporary as they are looking for a boy. She is a great help to the mother and she wins their hearts. She does beg for dungarees for her tree climbing. Hope this helps!
Frances Salomon Murphy, A Nickel for Alice, a.k.a. Runaway Alice,1951. This is Frances Salomon Murphy's A Nickel for Alice. My Scholastic reprint from the late '60s or early '70s had the title Runaway Alice, but noted the title change on the cover. The girl goes to her new foster home expecting to have to do all the housework, but discovers that she only has to do child-sized chores and that the family possesses "a clothes-washing machine" and other household conveniences.

Patricia Beatty, The Nickel-Plated Beauty.  C-415 might be The Nickel-Plated Beauty by Patricia Beatty.  It takes place in 1886.
Beatty, Patricia, The Nickel Plated Beauty
Here's an online description of The Nickel-Plated Beauty (1964): In the Washington Territory of 1886, the seven resourceful Kimball children devote themselves to earning enough money to buy their mother a new stove.  The oldest boy orders the stove through his job at the local general store, not realizing that C.O.D. means "Collect On Delivery."  The children's father cuts wood for the railroad, and his salary is insufficient for this expense, so the children have until Christmas to collect $25, a huge sum in those days.  The story is told by twelve year-old Hester Kimball.  I haven't read this book, and can't find anything online about the children working in a cranberry bog, but I do know that cranberries are grown in Washington state.
Yes!  Patricia Beatty used to be one of my favorite authors when I was growing up.  Thanks so much!  I am on a quest to buy all my most loved, most read books from my childhood and could not remember the title or author.  Thanks so much!!!!

Maud Frere, My Name is Nicole (Little French Schoolgirl).  there are at least two of these Nicole books-- so I am not sure which is the one you are looking for. I am your age exactly & I loved these books too. She was such a brat!
Nicole's Birthday.  This is the one...

Will F. Jenkins, Night Drive. (1950)  I think this is the short stoy "Night Drive" by Will Jenkins.  It first appeared in TODAY'S WOMAN magazine for March 1950, and has been anthologized in IN THE GRIP OF TERROR and TWISTED!, both edited by Groff Conklin.  I think I've seen it anthologized in a school reading text or two also, but don't recall details.  Will Jenkins (1896-1975) is the real name of the author better known under his pseudonym "Murray Leinster," mostly for science fiction (though this story is straight suspense).  Here's a semi-summary from a post I sent years ago to the now-defunct librarian listserv Stumpers-L:  The story (which I had not read before) turns out to be a variant on a  famous urban folk tale--the one about the female driver who realizes  that the strange woman in the seat beside her has hairy arms and is, in fact, a man, and probably the local psycho killer.  (This does not entirely give away the story--as I note, it's a variant on this...)
Many thanks to the person who sent in a solution.  I am following up on the lead of Night Drive by Will Jenkins and will let you know definitively if it is solved once I get a copy, though I am already quite encouraged that this will be the story since the title is right on.

Partial solution: the story you describe about role-switching couple is "One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts" by Shirley Jackson.  It's been reprinted in several anthologies, and "The Monkey's Paw" in dozens of anthologies, but I can't find one which contains both.  There are at least two sf/f stories called "Proof Postive" (one by Graham Greene and a much more obscure one by Alexander Malec), but atain I don't find an anthology in which either appears with either of the other stories.  Nor do I find a "Ferris Wheel" as a story title.  My best guess, assuming querier is mixing up contents of more than one anthology or collection in memory, is that s/he might have read the 1968 Scholastic pb anthology A NIGHT IN FUNLAND ed. Jerome Brondfield, since this (a) contains the Shirley Jackson story and (b) has a ferris wheel on the cover, possibly indicating a ferris wheelish story within. Still no "Proof Positive" or "Monkey's Paw," though.  Here's the contents of A NIGHT IN FUNLAND, in case any ring a bell: Night in Funland And Other Stories from Literary Cavalcade ed. Jerome Brondfield  (Scholastic Book Services TK1056, 1968, 75¢, 238pp, pb) * 7 • Foreword • Jerome Brondfield • fw * 13 • Night in Funland • William Peden • ss The New Mexico Quarterly Win ’60 * 26 • Four O’Clock • Price Day • ss AHMM Apr ’58 * 32 • August Heat • William F. Harvey • ss Midnight House and Other Tales, J.M. Dent, 1910 * 39 • The Vertical Ladder • William Sansom • ss Good Housekeeping Nov ’46  * 57 • The Sea Gulls • Elias Venezis • ss Atlantic Monthly Jun ’55 * 67 • Antaeus • Borden Deal • ss The Southwest Review Spr ’61 * 83 • Exchange of Men • Howard Nemerov & W. Ryerson Johnson • ss Story Jan ’63 * 102 • Flowers for Algernon • Daniel Keyes • nv F&SF Apr ’59 * 145 • One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts • Shirley Jackson • ss F&SF Jan ’55 * 161 • The Most Dangerous Game • Richard Edward Connell • nv Colliers Jan 19 ’24 * 191 • Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket • Jack Finney • nv Colliers Oct 26 ’56 * 215 • As Best He Can • Geoffrey Household • ss, 1958 * 219 • Too Early Spring • Stephen Vincent Benét • ss The Delineator Jun ’33
Brondfield, Jerome (editor), Night in Funland and Other Stories.  I recognized the story about the old man and lady swapping roles for good and bad as "One Ordinary Day with Peanuts" by Shirley Jackson.  This is the only anthology I can find that has both that story and one that may be about a ferris wheel-  it doesn't contain "The Monkey's Paw" however.  Is it possible you read that in another book?  It's a very frequent story in anathologies.  The contents of Night in Funland are:  Night in Funland (by William Peder-  I assume this is may be the ferris wheel story), August Heat, Vertical Ladder, Sea Gulls, Antaeus, Exchange of Men, Flowers for Algernon, One Ordinary Day with Peanuts, The Most Dangerous Game, Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket, As Best He Can, and Too Early Spring.  Hope this helps.
Shirley Jackson, One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts.  This is the title of the short story described, not the anthology.
This sounds like it may have been one of the many anthologies edited by Alfred Hitchcock.  It is exactly the type of stories that were in these books.
One of the stories is Shirley Jackson's "One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts." A list of the books cotaining this story can be found at this link.
Still looking for the anthology, but I can tell you that The Monkey's Paw was written by William Wymark Jacobs and Proof Positive was written by Graham Greene.  Also, you have the details reversed in the story about the old man: he spends the day doing sweet, kind and thoughtful things for complete strangers, while his wife practices random acts of cruelty---then they decide to switch roles the next day.
Surprise endings : Stories Of Irony and Fate. (1979-1082)  I found a book that has both stories, but I don't know what the cover looks like. Pub. = Logan, Iowa : The Perfection Form Co., 1979-1982 Series: Solid gold. A treasury of great literature.  Contents: The monkey's paw / W.W. Jacobs -- Blue murder / Wilbur Daniel Steele -- Dip in the pool / Roald Dahl -- A piece of string, The diamond necklace / Guy de Maupassant -- One ordinary day, with peanuts / Shirley Jackson -- Mammon and the archer and the gift of the Magi / O. Henry -- The lady or the tiger / Frank Stockton -- The most dangerous game / Richard Connell.
Jerome Brondfield (editor), Night in Funland and Other Stories.  I just wanted to say "Thank you!" to those who responded so quickly with the title of this book!  No, I was not the original poster of this request - but I recognized the book instantly from their request as one I had read and loved nearly 30 years ago, but forgotten the title.  (I had mis-remembered it as "A Night at the Funhouse" or something similar - and of course, failed to find it.) And yes, I do believe there was a monkey - or rather, an ape, possibly dangerous or homicidal? in the title story, which also does involve the ferris wheel. My memories are extremely vague, but I have already purchased a copy online and eagerly await its arrival. Thanks again!
This was my original posting. Your AWESOME people solved it.  Thank you very much for the quick solution. This is indeed the book I was looking for. I've been looking for it off-and-on for over 20 years, and this team had the answer for me on the same day it was posted! You guys are awesome!

Gibson, Enid, Night of the Lemures, 1982.  Winchester: Hambleside Group, 154 p.  No summary in this British Library record, but with a title like that....
Night of the Lemures is by Enid Gibson, published Winchester, Hambleside 1982, 154 pages. I haven't been able to locate any reviews or descriptions, nor does it seem to be available online. 

Jack Finney, Night People, 1977.  My sister-in-law recently introduced me to the wildly imaginative world (parallel universe, more like) of Jack Finney (thanks, Jamie!!) and a shortened version of this story was in one of his compendiums. A 'net search produced the following synopsis: "What are four suburbanites doing roaming around in the middle of the night? Lew and Jo and Harry and Shirley were restless. They were among the best
and the brightest, with glowing futures and comfortable lives, but it wasn't enough. Something was missing-- excitement, maybe. And that's when the night walks began...Then they started lying across the deserted freeway at 3:00 in the morning. But then the pranks got wilder, the stakes got bigger, the escapes from the law became narrower and narrower, and each breathtaking getaway spawned even more outrageous adventures."
Jack Finney, The Night People, 1978.  If it could have been an adult science fiction novel, rather than a children's book, then I'm pretty sure this is it.
Bless you! I am thrilled and on my way to the library! I will also be telling my favorite reference librarian about your service. Love it!!!!

Otto Coontz , The night walkers. (1982)  A possibility:  "When half of the children of Covendale are struck down by a mysterious illness, only two thirteen-year-old girls and a housekeeper suspect the infection is destroying the children's souls as well as their bodies.
This one is solved. Thank you so much for finding it. I didn't think it could happen. You guys proved me wrong.

Sounds something like the British folktale Mister Miacca, collected by Joseph Jacobs. There was a version illustrated by Evaline Ness in 1967, published by Holt. Tommy Grimes, a bad boy, is caught by Mr. Miacca, who wants to cook him for dinner. He gets away once by promising to bring back pudding, then is caught again. Mr. Miacca puts him under the sofa and tells him to put out a leg, which he cuts off and puts into the cookpot. Tommy escapes again, because he'd put out the sofa leg, not his own. Probably too recent (1999) is The Lost Boy and the Monster by Craig Kee Strete, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, published by Putnam, 33 pages. "Old Foot Eater is a terrible monster who traps children and eats their feet. A lost boy with no name meets a rattlesnake and a scorpion and makes friends with them ... when he is trapped by Old Foot Eater, the rattlesnake and scorpion help him escape."
Prelutsky, Nightmares Poems to trouble your sleep, 1976.  From the Jack Prelutsky book, the poem, The Ghoul, sounds like it might fit. Try these two stanzas: He slices their stomachs and bites their hearts/ and tears their flesh to shreds,/ he swallows their oes like toasted tarts/ and gobbles down their heads./  Fingers, elbows, hands and knees/ and arms and legs and feet--/ he eats them with delight and ease,/ for every part's a treat.
I think I know it by heart. The Gruesome Ghoul by Jack Prelutsky in either Headless Horseman Rides Tonight or Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep "The gruesome ghoul, the ghastly ghoul, / without the slightest noise, / waits patiently outside the school / to feast on girls and boys"...  It describes in a gruesome way how he eats each part. I'm a childrens librarian who answers many questions like this as part of my job.
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I'm looking for my husband's favorite book as a child. It was a collection of scary stories or Halloween tales for kids. He cannot remember the author, title or when it was published. He would have read it around 1985-1989 and found it as his school library. He can only remember that there was a drawing of Death on the cover dressed in a black cloak. Death holding a rose and looking down at it. Thanks for the help!

Jack Prelutsky (Arnold Lobel Illustrator), Nightmares: Poems to trouble your sleep, 1976.  This is a long shot, since it doesn't match your description exactly, but there is a picture of a skull-faced man in a top hat and coat holding a bouquet of roses: you can see a piture of the cover here: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780688840532/Nightmares/index.aspx.
Jack Prelutsky, Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, 1976, copyright.  The picture you describe sounds like the front of this book.  Skeleton huddled in big overcoat and top hat, holding a bunch of red roses. The illustrator is Arnold Lobel.  Not stories, but poems.  Creepy story poems.  :)
Thank you so much for your help! I showed this book cover to my husband and it was indeed the one for which he was searching! We appreciate the help!

I'd say this is it - Nikkernik, Nakkernak and Nokkernok, by Dola de Jong, illustrated by Jan Hoowij, published New York, Scribners, 1942. "The astonishing and hilarious adventures of three strange little men." "These are the names of three funny little men who captured a lion in a cupboard. It made a great problem when the lion's wife and children came to look for him. Additional adventures introduce a goat, a hen and a parrot, to make a jolly nonsense story." (Horn Book Nov/42 p.370, 421)

Interpreting Condition  Grades

de Jong, Dola. Nikkernik, Nakkernak and Nokkernok.  Illustrated by Jan H. Hoowij.  Charles Scribner's Sons, 1942. First edition.  Ex-library copy with usual markings.  Much wear and soiling; decent reading copy only.  G-.  $10

Evelyn White Minshull, Nine Fine Gifts, 1962.  I have been looking for this book for years! No one in my family could remember the title, but after hours on the web, I finally found it. I'm pretty sure this is the one you're looking for. The story is about a boy who gets 9 birthday gifts and loses them because a squirrel chews a hole in his pocket. He then replaces each one somehow. 

Possibly Milly and Her Dogs by Lena Barksdale(!), illustrated by Charlotte Steiner, published by Doubleday Doran Junior Books, 1942. "Charming tale of a little girl and her eight dogs. Four-color and black and white illustrations. Ages 3 to 7." (ad Horn Book Nov-Dec/42 p.364)
I know someone else will point this out, but G43 and G45 have GOT to be the same book, which would mean that my suggestion of the Barkdale book is wrong.
G43 and G45 girl with dogs: could this be Almena's Dogs, by Regina Woody, illustrated by Elton Fax, published Grosset 1968 (reprint of 1954 ed), 240 pages? It's about a young black girl who loves dogs and wants to become a vet, but whose landlord doesn't allow dogs. So she becomes friends with all the dogs in the neighbourhood, of many different breeds. Though the book described sounds more like a picture or alphabet book.
Sutton, Felix, illustrated by June Goldsborough, Nine Friendly Dogs.  Wonder Books 1945.  This sounds likely : "Julie has nine stray dogs that she feeds (and of course they stay at her house) and her father thinks that is about seven too many dogs. until Julie gets lost."
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L75: Julie is a little girl who takes a walk (with her cats?) and gets lost.  She follows her cats through some tall grass (she can see their tails waving over the grass) and they lead her safely home.

Felix Sutton, Nine Friendly Dogs.  I think this answer is the same as G43:  Nine Friendly Dogs.  All the other information matches, including the girl's name and the tails wagging through the weeds leading her home.  I think the poster might have incorrectly remembered cats instead of dogs-  easy to do through the mists of memory!

I know someone else will point this out, but G43 and G45 have GOT to be the same book, which would mean that my suggestion of the Barkdale book is wrong.
G43 and G45 girl with dogs: could this be Almena's Dogs, by Regina Woody, illustrated by Elton Fax, published Grosset 1968 (reprint of 1954 ed), 240 pages? It's about a young black girl who loves dogs and wants to become a vet, but whose landlord doesn't allow dogs. So she becomes friends with all the dogs in the neighbourhood, of many different breeds. Though the book described sounds more like a picture or alphabet book.
G45 girl with dogs: possibly What Happened to Jenny, by Edith Heal, illustrated by Abbi Giventer, published Atheneum 1963, 64 pages. "A fanciful little dream story ... a little girl stricken with measles and a troupe of smugly intelligent best-of-show dogs who lead her forth into the city for some amusing adventures. Expressive pen-and-ink drawings." (HB Feb/63 p.53)
Sutton, Felix, illustrated by June Goldsborough, Nine Friendly Dogs.  Wonder Books 1945.  This sounds likely : "Julie has nine stray dogs that she feeds (and of course they stay at her house) and her father thinks that is about seven too many dogs. until Julie gets lost."
Nine Friendly Dogs(Wonder Book-1954)is exactly right!! I found it this weekend. Picture- girl with parade of dogs tails behind in meadow is perfect! Dogs names follow alphabet- Archie,Bowser, Cooky, Dandy...Inky! At long last found!!!

Lucy Daniels, Nine Lives Collection: Books 1 to 3, 2001, reprint.  "For existing and future fans of the Nine Lives stories, this collection features all nine, adorable kittens: Ginger, Nutmeg, and Clove Emerald, Amber and Jet  and Daisy, Buttercup and Weed in their very first adventures! All nine kittens are settling into their different homes, with new owners. Join the kittens as they adapt to life away from their mother, Bracken, each making a little mischief along the way..." from Mrs. Mad's Book-a-Rama.

Langerman, Jean, No Carrots For Harry!  (orig. copyright is 1989.  The 1992 Parents Magazine Press ed. has a pink border covered with carrots.)  Harry doesn't want to eat the carrot his Aunt Prue served for dinner, but he discovers that "carrots taste good!" and finally got his sweetgrass tart for dessert.
B358  It might be NO CARROTS FOR HARRY! by Jean Langerman, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz, Parents Magazine Press, 1992. I have not seen it, but the publication date and summary seem to match the stumper~from a librarian
Wahl, Jan  with illus. James Marshall, Carrot Nose.  Could the solution to B358  be Jan Wahl's Carrot Nose? (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)  According to another dealer, the story features a mother rather than an aunt.  Hope this is helpful. --Listen,- he tells his mother, -I would rather eat rocks,- and the carrot elf, who is displeased, gives the bunny a carrot nose. A nose like that can cause problems. But it comes in handy, during a ramble in the woods, for scaring away hunters and kidnappers who prey on innocent folk. What with his rescue work and escaping from a den of wolves who are planning a -nice stew-, Carrot Nose is terribly sleepy by the time night falls--. 

I know this one; I'm holding it my hand! No Children, No Pets by Marion Holland copyright 1956.  The egg scene is in the first chapter, then the family inherits an apartment complex in Florida (the No Children, No Pets
sign is on the front of the apartment).  The mother intends to sell the property, but after many adventures; a hurricane, a runaway boy, a missing ruby clip, and a secret pet monkey; the children convince their mother to
live there.  In the last scene, they throw the No Children, No Pets sign in the trash.
Many thanks!!  I was delighted to get such a quick response about my book.  I am now trying to see if I can find a copy Your web site is awesome!!
No Children No Pets!  I think that is the name of the book I'm looking for.  I read it as a child in the 50's.  It was about a family in Florida and I think they ran a motel.  There was also a hurricane in the story.  Anybody heard of it or know the author?
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My mom (born 1950) remembers reading a children's book about a pink motel, probably titled "The Pink Motel", that was not the book by Carol Ryrie Brink. Is she hallucinating?

Well I have my copy of The Pink Motel by Brink and published by Macmillan in 1959.  I really think your mother may be mistaken.  Ask her about the plot.  this has to do with the mother of a small boy inheriting a motel.  full of adventure and interesting characters.  I must reread this one!
Could it be this one? I don't know whether it's pink, though - Mystery Hotel, by Louisa M. Johnston, published Whitman, Chicago 1964 "juvenile fiction set in a hotel where the father is the manager. Chapters include Hustle and Bustle--The Costume Ball--A second Robbery--The Detectives--A Discovery--" It might also be a bit late.
Well, there's The Pink Hotel, by Dorothy Erskine and Patrick Dennis (Edward Everett Tanner), published New York, Putnam 1957, 255 pages. "Satirical novel about the inmates of a swank Florida hotel. Practically everybody connected with the hotel has some quirk, from the owner to the elevator boy, but there is a happy marriage at the end." (BRD 1957) Doesn't really sound like a children's book, though. Some of the reviewers found it vulgar or racy.
I quizzed my mom about the book.  She thinks she bought it from Scholastic.  There were two or three siblings, probably two young sisters and an older brother, and a single mother.  The youngest is definitely a girl.  The book opens with the two or three of them on the way home from the pool on a hot summer day in a northern city, possibly Philadelphia.  Then they move to Florida because they inherited something...  The climax is a hurricane, which the children prepare for with the help of an older man.
Marion Hollan, No Children, No Pets, 1956.  The additional description from the poster's mother matches this book exactly.  The three children  Jane-12, Don-11, and Betsy-4, move to an apartment building in Florida when their mother inherits it from great-uncle John (their father is dead). Don arrives home from the swimming pool to their apartment in Philadelphia in the first chapter.  Betsy is covered with eggs after trying to fry eggs on the sidewalk after hearing Don say "It's hot enough outside to fry an egg!" They all go to Florida and deal with an
over-bearing tenant (Mrs. Pennypacker), a stolen ruby clip, a runaway boy, a missing manager and lastly, the hurricane.  The mother decides to move there permantly in the end.  This is an apartment instead of a motel and the building is described as white in the text and my hardback version has the children looking out of a yellow window with brown shutters. However, the Scholastic edition could have had a pink building. I am sure this is book being described!!
That's it!  I'm amazed you could solve it, despite the pink herring. Thank you so much.  Mom has been telling us how wonderful that book was for years. Now if we can just find a copy...
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Hi, I am trying to find a book where a brother and sister go down to Florida to spend the summer with their Aunt(?).  She lives in an apartment complex and there was one resident there who didn't let anyone into her apartment because I think she had a monkey.  The children befriended her.  I believe at the end of the book they went through a hurricane.

Marion Holland, No Children, No Pets, 1950's.  This may be it - three children (one is a toddler) move from Philadelphia to Florida when their mother inherits a run-down apartment building.  I don't remember the monkey, but one of the tenants was fairly unpleasant.  The manager has disappeared and the children end up doing some of the building maintenance chores, aided by Mike, a runaway boy who in one scene teaches them how to operate a lawnmower.  At the end there is a hurricane, during which the manager (who turns out to be Mike's father) reappears.
Marion Holland, No Children,  No Pets, 1956.  This is on the Solved Mysteries page-I'm sure the poster is thinking of this book even though some of the details are a little skewed!!
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A mother and her young children move to a sandy, oleander-filled Florida town where they are treated as outsiders. When a hurricane occurs, their actions lead them to finally be accepted. Novel length.

Marion Holland, No Children, No Pets, 1956.  Story of a family who inherits an apartment house in Palm Glade, Florida
children/pets not allowed and the mother has to deal with grumpy tenants and a hurricane.  I particularly recall the scene in which the youngest child tries to fry eggs on the sidewalk because it's "hot enough to fry an egg out there".  Weekly Reader and some other book clubs distributed it.
Marion Holland, No Children, No Pets.  If this was a children's book, it is probably No Children, No Pets - see the Solved Mysteries section.

This is No Flying in the House by Betty Brock.  See Most Requested Books.  No comment on your employer. ;-)
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A chapter book with a few black and white illustrations, published sometime before 1977.  The story is about a little girl who is living with her aunt, who collects wind-up toys.  The girl meets a tiny talking dog who can do tricks, and comes to live with her and her aunt.  The girl then meets a cat who tells the girl she is actually a fairy.  The dog warns her not to listen to the cat.  The cat tells the girl about all the things fairies can do, like kiss their own elbows, open locks by blowing into them, and fly.  When she finds she can do these things, the dog (for some reason) feels like it has failed its mission, and turns into a wind-up toy on her aunt's shelf.  After that, can't recall what happens in the book.
Thanks in advance!  =)

No Flying in the House by Betty Brock.  Read more nostalgic memories of it on the Most Requested pages.
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I am looking for a book from my wife's childhood (she's 37).  It involved a little girl who is for some reason staying apart from her parents.  She is a petite little girl and learns that she is in fact some type of fairy or fairy princess.  A little tiny magic cat (like, mouse-sized) is somehow involved; either it befriends her or beytrays her.  The little girl learns to fly; turns out that flying high is really easy, but it is hard to fly low, and she has to fly low to fly under the trees or something.  Maybe 3d to 5th grade reading level?

Sounds like No Flying in the House by Betty Brock.  See the Most Requested Pages.
George MacDonald, The Light Princess.  The idea of a flying princess reminds me of this wonderful story, though I don't remember (after 30 years) if the cat and other details fit.
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My memories: Little girl's story about the miniature figurines in her family's curio cabinet that come to life.  The story is about their time together.  At the end, they become the inanimate figures they once were. (I cried at the end, read it over and over again and sobbed each time.) I probably read around 1976 at age 10.

Not quite like No Flying in the House, but close enough to check.
You solved my stumper - thank you!  How fun to read an old favorite with my daughter!  I can't figure out if there's some way  to make notes from your web site, but thought I'd let you know that F143 can be considered "solved."
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I read this book in the early to mid eighties. A girl goes to live at some house (like with an uncle or grandparent or something). I think she thinks her parents are dead or left her. She explores things she is not supposed to explore in the house; I think there is one room in particular she is not supposed to go in, but she does anyway.  She finds a cat that comes to life and talks to her. I think it may have been a figurine of a jewelled cat that comes to life and talks to her. I think the cat taught her to float or fly.  She eventually finds out that her mother was a fairy (I think she meets her at some point) and that she is half fairy.  I can't remember any more. Thanks!

No Flying in the House by Betty Brock.  To see more, including copies for sale, please visit the Most Requested pages.
Thank you so much for solving that so quickly! That definitely is the book. I forgot about the dog, so I would not have  recognized it from the other descriptions. I appreciate it!
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I remember reading a book when I was in elementary school, so it would have been published sometime before 1980. It involved a girl who owned a china (porcelain) dog that would come to life occasionally. I vaguely recall that they have adventures after a sort, and I know the dog gives the girl advice, and comfort. The phrase Gypsy's child, and the name Annabelle or Arabelle come to mind when I search my memory.  This book has haunted me for years and I have tried and tried to come up with this title so I could find this book. I love the Loganberry site. I have found so many 'lost' books there. I am thrilled! Thanks ever so much!

Betty Brock, No Flying in the House, 1971.  Annabelle is the little girl's name, and the little dog's name is Gloria.  Annabelle is the daughter of a fairy, being raised by hostile non-fairies...  See more on the Most Requsted Books page.
Wow! THAT IS IT! All I have to say is that I love this site, A. Because I see I am not the only adult driven to distraction about books that we read in our past and can't find and B. Because ALL of my book searchings are over because I found the answer on this page, and my last one just got solved! Thanks so much, this is an amazing site!
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In the spring of 1971 I ordered a book from the Scholastic book club and I read it over and over till it basically fell apart. I want to find a copy of it for my daughters but for the life of me, I can't remember the name of it. The story was about a young girl whos parents had passed away and she was sent away to live with a gran