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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 Ben�t � 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 grandmother or aunt in a very cold and unfriendly environment. The new guardian had all these  figurines that the girl was not allowed to touch. Somehow (my memory is vague here) one of the figurines, a ballerina I think, would come to life and make the girls situation less miserable. The figurine was either glass or mechanica and either the figurine or the girl was named Felicia.

If the girl is Annabelle, and the figurine a dog named Gloria, then it's No Flying in the House by Betty Brock. See more on the Most Requested page.
Brock, Betty, No Flying in the House, 1970.  I think this one is No Flying in the House. The parents aren't dead, just away for a while.  The mother is named Felicia and she's a fairy princess.  Annabel has a ring or locket with an engraved crown and letter F. This was one of my most favorites as a child.  I still have the original paperback from 2nd grade plus a discarded library hardback--can't bear to part with either one.
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This was a story that my fifth grade teacher read to the class back in 1977.  I remember that the story was about a little girl who was a princess.  She didn't find out that she was a princess until the very end of the story.  I think her parents may have lived on an island somewhere, but I don't remember why she was separated from them.  The other thing that stands out in my mind was that there was a tiny dog, perhaps a magical dog, that she carried in a purse and I think maybe something about a cat in a cookie jar.

It's my stock answer to reply to any tiny dog stumpers with No Flying in the House by Betty Brock.  Annabelle was a fairy, however, not a princess.  But she did have a rather inspired tiny dog, and the time period is right.  Check out more details on the Most Requested Page, and see if it matches.
I think this may be the book I've been looking for!  My "stump the bookseller" stumper just got posted today.  I want to buy it because it sure sounds like it could be the one.
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I don't have much to go on.  All I remember is that it was a book I ordered in grade school, through the Scholastic Book Club.  I have written them, but have never recieved a reply.   I would have purchased this book in the mid 1970s, probably between '73 & '75.  I have no clue of the author's name, or title.  Actually, I don't rememer that much about the book.  I do remember that the main character was a little girl, & that became friends with a porcelain dog, in a china shop.  The dog would come to life when the girl was around, but no one else knew of the dog.  I'm not certain of this , but I believe the girl may have went to live with a grandmother, who owned the china shop.  They may have lived above the shop.   I know this is hardly anything to go on, but I'm hoping for a miracle.  Although I read many books as a child, & although I don't remember much about this book, the memory of it stayed with me, & I'd love to read it again.  I guess my inner child is longing to reconnect with the book.

Whenever I hear mention of a porcelain dog, I rush to conclude No Flying in the House by Betty Brock.  I don't think it has a china shop though, I think the dog belongs to the grandmother, but other than that, it fits.  Check out more on the Most Requested page.
Cassidy, Sylvia, Behind the Attic Wall.  Could you be thinking of "Behind the Attic Wall" with its tea parties and (wallpaper) rose gardens? Maggie, an orphan who has been in and out of foster homes, is sent to live with her great-aunts. While living in the ancestral home which had once served as a girls' boarding school, she hears voices behind the walls and soon discovers two "living" porcelain dolls and their porcelain dog. It's truly a magical book. However I bought my copy in the mid-80s, so it might not be the one you're seeking.
Betty Brock, No Flying in the House, 1970, copyright.  Thanks sooooo much Harriett for your help!!! What an incredible website you have!!!!  I was thrilled to find that someone knew the answer to my bookstumper.  I have been searching for this book for several years, but had so little memory to go on.  I am truly grateful for the divinely guidance that led me to Loganberry's website. My gratitude also goes to the womam who solved my riddle. I can't tell you how happy I am that I now can once again read this childhood favorite of mine.   Thanks again!

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Brock, Betty. No Flying in the House.  Illustrated by Wallace Tripp. HarperTrophy, 1970.  New paperback. $5.99

Orphan girl  - It sounds like you may be confusing some details of Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett with the main plot of No Flying in the House by Betty Brock.  The little girl in No Flying in the House, Annabelle, is not treated badly, but the little witch in the other story I mentioned is.
Betty Brock, No Flying in the House. This is definitely No Flying in the House.

Tomi Ungerer, No Kiss for Mother, 1978, reprint.  It was the RatMan comics that rang a bell  :) !  Piper Paw is the kitten's name  he hates to be kissed and called "darling", etc. by his mother.  (His father "works as supervisor in a rat-processing plant".)  In the end he sells his stinkbombs and firecrackers to his pals at school, and buys his mother flowers with the money.
D191 The naughty kitten sounds like Piper Paw in NO KISS FOR MOTHER by Tomi Ungerer, 1973. At one point he gets in some trouble (maybe a fight?) and he's the worse for wear, I think with stitches in his ear. I remember as a child being somewhat disturbed by the illustration. A image search on Google with the title will turn up a picture of the cover.~from a librarian

Moreman, Grace E., No, No Natalie, 1973.  Library of Congress description: "A rabbit describes a typical day with the children in nursery school".  An "Elk Grove Book", 46 pp., published by Children's Press.
Now how did you do that?  I seached LoC and found nothing!  Sigh.  Bet it was the comma.  Also tried searching for a copy, to no avail.  A sleeper, eh?
Moremen, Grace E., No, No, Natalie, 1973.  "A rabbit describes a typical day with the children in nursery school."
Moreman, Grace E, No no Natalie, 1973.  Childrens Press.  Geoffrey E Fulton (illustrator)
Grace Moremen, No, No, Natalie, 1973.  I looked this up - the description is "A rabbit describes a day of nursery school", so this may be it.  1973, Children's Book Press.
Moremen, Grace, No, no, Natalie, 1973.  Published by Children's Press  Photos by Geoffrey P. Fulton.

see Miracle at Carville

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No Such Thing as a Witch

W16:  I am almost positive the witch neighbor who makes brownies is No Such Thing As A Witch by Ruth Chew. If it's not that one, she should look through the other Ruth Chew books. If she read/owned the Scholastic paperback version of No Such Thing As A Witch, it was a toxic green with the boy and girl looking up at an apartment building.

Thank you so much for your help.  I will check out that Ruth Chew book. The title sounds really familiar.  I am sorry it took me a couple weeks to reply.  We've all been fighting off this nasty cold/flu in our house and haven't been on the internet.  I really do appreciate your helping me.  Thanks so much.
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I am trying to figure out the author of some YA suspense novels I read as a kid in the eighties. They usually had to do with magic. One novel was about two sisters who moved into a new home with their family and found a book of spells and spell items in a hidden trapdoor they found in their shed. Another novel was about magical items. For example some magic fudge that when eaten could turn you into a mouse. There was also some seven league boots and magic gloves that enable the wearer to draw, write etc seemingly perfect. Any help would be appreciated. I have been racking my brain for years trying to remember even a title.

M50: The magic fudge is from Ruth Chew'sNo Such Thing as a Witch. I was made pretty nervous, as a kid, from the slightly scary description on the back cover. The magic gloves are from What the Witch Left, also by Chew and my favorite book of hers, especially because of her description of the Mexican marketplace and her subtle portrait of Pilar's bargaining tactics - she speaks fast and loudly to the boy who's her age, softly to the young man, and she plays dumb with the American man.
I think this person is thinking of the Ruth Chew books. The magic fudge is from NO SUCH THING AS A WITCH and the magic gloves and seven league boots are from WHAT THE WITCH LEFT. They weren't really YA books, but the plot elements match.
There's a Ruth Chew with magic fudge in it.  One piece and you like animals, two and you can understand them, three and you turn into one.  It's at home; I'll doublecheck if there are other magic items in it, though that doesn't ring a bell.
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My book was about a brother and sister who lived near Prospect Park, the boy's name was Tad and I remember them adopting a stray cat. In one part of the book, the cat is entranced by fish swimming on the tv. I also remember an old lady gives the children fudge and I think that the fudge gave them magical powers, perhaps let them talk to animals or turn into an animal? The children sneak off to Prospect Park at night and I think that they disappear inside a tree, their warmth 'melts' the tree and they slip inside it. They wash off the grit by swimming in a pond or lake in the park.  Its possible that the author's first name is Ruth, but I could be wrong, Im really hoping that someone can remember it!

It's definitely Ruth Chew, might be Magic in the Park.
Chew, Ruth, The Wishing Tree.  Possibly?  A bird and cat that talk and a hollowed-out tree in a nearby park involve a brother and sister in a magical adventure. There is an old lady with lots of food.
Well, the boy's name is Brian, not Tad, but it sounds like The  Wishing Tree by Ruth Chew.  The mysterious old lady, swimming in the lake, the stray cat, and Prospect park can all be found in this book.
P228 This is definitely Ruth Chew's NO SUCH THING AS A WITCH. The kids are Nora and Tad, and they suspect their neighbor is a witch. And Ruth Chew mentions Prospect Park in a lot of her books.~from a librarian
Ruth Chew, No Such Thing As a Witch.  Witch + Fudge = No Such Thing As a Witch by Ruth Chew.  Back cover: "Watch out for Maggie Brown -- the new next-door neighbor!  And beware of Maggie's homemade fudge!  Maggie is NOT an ordinary person.  Her fudge is NOT ordinary fudge.  One piece of the fudge makes you love animals.  If you eat two pieces of fudge you will understand animal language.  Three pieces makes you act like an animal.  And if you eat four pieces...HELP!"
This stumper is confusing two of Ruth Chew's books.  Tad and his sister and the fudge that gives people the power to talk to and turn into animals is No Such Thing as a Witch.  Tad turns into a cat in that story.  The stray cat entranced by fish on TV, the children sneaking off in the night to the tree in Prospect Park that melts so the children can slip inside and wash off in a pond is The Wishing Tree.  There is also a castle, a giant and a magic tablecloth in this story.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Chew, Ruth. No Such Thing As a Witch.  Scholastic, 1971.  Softcover.  Fourth printing.  VG.  $15

Sounds like one of Alfred Hitchcock's anthologies, or maybe an anthology from The Twilight Zone?
Clifford D. Simak, City.  I'm not sure if this is the book in question, but it does contain several loosely linked SF stories, one of which deals with an ant civilization.
Clifford Simak, City.  Ants also take over the world, after it has been abandoned by humankind, in this novelized version of a series of short stories.
The first mentioned story is a short story by either Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke. At the moment I am away from home so cannot check which. I will send more details next week after I get home and check it.
Thanks, however, City is not the story I was looking for.
Nelson Bond, story The Voice from the Curious Cube, in collection NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE.  story 1937,  book 1954.  The "ants rule the world, and don't release the sleeping humans because they have no sense of hearing so message is lost on them" short story is "The Voice from the Curious Cube" by Nelson Bond. This story dates from a 1937 magazine, and was reprinted both in Bond's own collection NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE (Avon pb, 1954, 1974) and in a 1978 Doubleday anthology, 100 GREAT SCIENCE FICTION SHORT SHORT STORIES, ed. Isaac Asimov et al.  I suspect Bond's own collection is the book wanted  while I haven't read it and hence don't recognize the second story described, here's full contents:   7 � Vital Factor � ss, 1951; 14 � The Voice from the Curious Cube � ss Top-Notch Mar �37;   18 � Button, Button � ss Bluebook Mar �54;  36 � Conqueror�s Isle � ss Blue Book Jun �46;  54 � Life Goes On � ss Blue Book Oct �50;  62 � Uncommon Castaway � ss Avon Fantasy Reader 11, ed. Donald A.

Patricia Hermes, Nobody's Fault? I am pretty sure this is the book. The brother is killed in an accident with a lawnmower. The reference to bee-stings may be based on slight confusion with another book which includes the tragic sudden death of a child, Doris Buchanan Smith's "A Taste of Blackberries", where a boy dies as a result of severe allergy to bee-stings.
Patricia Hermes, Nobody's Fault.  Actually, the boy mowing the lawn runs over a bee's nest and is stung, losing control of and falling off the lawnmower..I believe he is run over by it. I liked this book as well.

Could this be En Famille by Hector Malot? It was first published in French around 1900, and has been translated as Nobody's Girl and as The Adventures of Perrine.Perrine is a young girl (early teens?) whose mother dies and who makes her way to her estranged grandfather. I believe she wants to win his love before revealing that she's his granddaughter, but I haven't read the book myself. It may be in print, under one of those titles.
P67: Although the details are a little different, this probably IS Nobody's Girl (En Famille) by Hector Henri Malot  Girl is Perrine, donkey is Palikare. Grandfather is French factory owner whose son married an English-speaking Hindu woman when sent to India. Son (Perinne's father) died before book starts. Mother dies in Paris at beginning of book. Perrine makes her way to the town where her grandfather lives and gets job at grandfather's factory. To save her leather shoes, she makes shoes - soles of braided reeds and tops of canvas. Because she speaks English, she is offered job as translator of her grandfather's business papers and is eventually revealed to be his granddaughter. Intervenes with grandfather on behalf of his workers before he knows she is his granddaughter. American print of English translation by Florence Crewe Jones published in 1962 by Platt & Monk, who also published Malot's Sans Famille - Nobody's Boy (stories are not related). I got this forChristmas in 1962 and still have it. This was one of Malot's later books and is a French classic.
But this is wonderful.  Thanks so much for finding out something about this book.  I am sure it is the correct one although my details were off.  Now I can try to find it.  I have been trying to find this book for 30 years, can you believe it?  Thanks.
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It's a young adult book that I read around 1970 - have no idea when it was published. It opens with a young girl who is waiting in a long, hot line to enter Paris (I think).  It's set in the 19th century.  The girl is with her donkey (and either her name or the donkey's name begins with P).  There is a sick adult with her, riding in the wagon.  I think the adult dies and the girl is left to fend for herself in Paris.

#G102--Greek or Gypsy girl and donkey:  If this is the one I'm thinking of, it was solved, too, a year or two back.  Too bad I can't remember the title!   The girl did have a name beginning with "P" but may have had a nickname beginning with "A."  She was an orphan, or separated from her relatives, on a quest to find her grandfather who I believe was estranged from her mother.   She may have even had to hide her identity until after he accepted her.  That vague enough for a memory of a memory?
thank you for the hint, now i can solve my own stumper...I have just searched through all the solved mysteries and found this book -- it is Nobody's Girl, by Hector Malot, originally published in French. (I really did look through the solved mysteries before I sent my stumper in, but I just wasn't thorough enough). Well, now i need to get me a copy.
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The librarian is stumped... so I'm hoping the bookseller won't be!  The book I'm trying to identify was one of my mother's favorites.  Since she was born in 1933 and remembers being a young girl when she read this book, she guesses the time frame at about 1940-1945.   She was living in Western North Carolina and owning a book was a bit of a luxury (this book actually belonged to a cousin).  Therefore, she feels the book was probably an inexpensive one.   She remembers the illustrations were in color and likens it to a picture book -- not a novel or "chapter book." Short and brightly illustrated. As to the story line, here's her best, admittedly foggy, recollection: The protagonist is a young girl, maybe 8-10.  She remembers her being dressed "Heidi-like."  Whatever the costume of the child, both it and the setting of the book had a "European" feel. She is either on a journey, lost or has run away.  She is traveling alone.  At some point she comes to a lake.  She finds a nest of either duck or goose eggs in the rushes beside the lake.  She may have even eaten one of the eggs.  There may have been a city-scape visible in the distance. And that's all she can remember.  The nest of eggs is the most vivid image she has, but it may also have been just a little part of the story. I am a Librarian and I've tried any number of sources and search tactics to find this book - for years.

J14 might be Nobody's Girl by Henri Malot. The girl definitely eats raw eggs. Yuck!
I've seen an edition of The Adventures of Perrine (Nobody's Girl / En Famille), by Hector Malot, translated by Gil Meynier and adapted by Edith Heal, with 5 full page color illustrations by Milo Winter, in the Windermere Classics Series, published New York, Rand McNally 1936, 284 pages, large book measuring 9 1/4 by 6 3/4 inches, black cloth hardcover with pasted on illustration and silver lettering, illustrated endpapers and plates. Perrine in these illustrations is definitely dressed in a Heidi-like way, with black laced vest, white shirt and full striped skirt, she has long blonde hair. The house and cart that were shown were also very European and rural looking. If she does eat raw eggs, which sounds very likely, this may well be the book.
The title is indeed Nobody's Girl.  But she doesn't eat raw eggs, she poached them inside the bread.  They re-printed the
book, finally.  The publishing company is Buccaneer Books in Cutchogue, New York.  I dearly loved the book, a girl who faces great odds, tremendous losses and still manages to find her grandfather.  She beautifies and helps her grandfather, the town and manages to foil her other scheming relatives with humility, cleverness and tact.  I wanted to be her...so brave, so kind, and so ingenious.
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This turn of the century book is about a French orphan, the daughter of an industrialist's heir and a Gypsy.  Her parents die and she is rejected by her grandfather, who incorrectly saw the mother as a moneygrabber. The daughter goes to live by herself on an island, winds up working in one of her grandfather's factories, and eventually meets her grandfather, giving him good advice on handling labor relations in the factory.  She makes herself indespensible, even though she does not tell him who she is. Eventually he finds outand all is well.

Nobody's Girl. I have this book at home, and there is another one called Nobody's Boy.  She end's up working for her Grandfather who is blind. Grandfather had disowned his son for marrying a foreigner.  He becomes very fond of the young girl, and eventually finds out she is his granddaughter. Will check the dates and author.
Hector Malot, Nobody's Girl.  reprint available.
Hector Malot, Nobody's Girl.  This sounds like Perrine in Nobody's Girl.  She is noticed by her grandfather because she speaks both French and English and can translate for him.  See the Solved Mysteries N page for more information about this book.

Alexander, Anne, Noise in the Night, 1960.  Chicago:  Rand McNally

Noises and Mr. Flibberty-Jib
Mr.Flibbityjib(sp?) is a man who gets headaches because he will not eat his roast beef. It is a children's book from I'm guessing the 1950's or 60's.

Gertrude Crampton, Noises and Mr. Flibberty-Jib, 1947. "If you want peace and quiet / You will have to change your diet / Eat more roast beef / More roast beef? / And the beef that he ate / Made him feel so great / That there's no more rumble / No more bumble / No more rumble-rumble-bumble in his head!"
SOLVED: Oh my goodness!! That's it!! I've been searching for so long!! Please tell me you have a copy or know how to get one??
Great news! Loganberry Books will be in touch with you next week.

How about Margaret Wise Brown's Noisy Books?  They have a little black poodle named Muffin in them, and despite being published in the 1950's, they've remained popular since then.  I currently have these in stock:
Brown, Margaret Wise. The Quiet Noisy Book. Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. Harper & Row, 1950.
Starring Muffin, the black poodle. Beautiful crisp copy with dust jacket. F/F. $20
Brown, Margaret Wise. The Indoor Noisy Book. Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. William Scott, 1942.
First edition, worn at edges and particularly at corners, spine taped with cloth binding tape. Interior clean and
bright. Starring Muffin, the black poodle. G. $22

Thank you so much for the information about the Margaret Wise Brown's Noisy Books.  Do you know how many different ones there are in her series?  I would like to learn more about the two that you have in stock.  Should I call, or is there a way I could see the cover of the books?
I think there are about six.. 

Perhaps - The Noisy Clock Shop, by Jean Horton Berg, illustrated by Art Seide, published Wonder Books 1950.
I had this book growing up and found it for my children a few years ago in a used book store.  I'll try to locate it at home, but in the meantime, the suggestion already submitted sounds right -- I'm pretty sure it's a Wonder
Book, and Art Seiden sounds right for the illustrator.
Jean Horton Berg, The Noisy Clock Shop, 1950. I finally found the book (in a bookcase, of all places!).  The first response definitely is correct.  The protagonist is Mr. Winky, who owns a clock shop. When a customer suggests to him the place is noisy, he realizes it is.  He goes out for a walk, is bothered by the city sounds  takes a train, is bothered by the sounds of the train and himself eating peanuts  is invited to dinner by a farmer in the country and is bothered by the clink of the dishes and silverware  takes a walk in the woods and is bothered by the sounds of animals, including a bear  rushes back to his shop and is bothered by the silence winds all his clocks and is content again. 

On "Pat Pending," I think I may have actually read this book!  William O. Steele did a series of hillbilly tall tales, one of which was The No-Name Man of the Mountain.  This sounds exactly like something he'd write, but the trouble is I read the book twenty years ago and can't remember enough about it to be sure this is the one described.  I found listings for it in the Library of Congress and AddAll, but the most complete description given is "Tennessee humor"--no plot.  If it helps, this was illustrated by Jack Davis, who did pictures for MAD Magazine, record album and book covers, in the 1960s and 70s.  He drew people with small bodies and huge heads with chiseled angular features.  IF the library still has the book and IF it is in, I'll check it next time I go.
Ps:  On "Pat Pending," I got to that library today, looked under William O. Steele, and they no longer have The No-Name Man of the Mountain.  It's worth a try.
Thank you so much for this! I'm sorry it took so long to respond to your message, I've been absolutely swamped with things lately. This is just fantastic. This is the book and series I was looking for! I really appreciate your help. I remember the illustrations well and since I read the books at about the same time I "discovered" MAD I probably knew Davis but it's been over 20 years for me too. :-)
The No-Name Man of the Mountains, by William O. Steele, illustrated by Jack Davis, published Harcourt 1965, 80 pages. "Whopping tall story set in the Tennessee mountains. Younger brother, so ugly that his rascally older brothers hold his name in safekeeping and hide his head under an onion sack, is beholden to the two rogues for an utterly miserable existence on a no-good farm. Always grateful for their concern and misguidance, younger brother innocently and carefully carries out their every order. Finally - for he is not so stupid as his onion sack suggests - younger brother catches on to the trickery and not only does the rapscallions one better but gets himself a name and a pile of luck as well." (Horn Book Feb/65 p.58)

Sara Cone Bryant, Epaminondas and his Auntie1907, Cute story that has been retold several times.  It can be found as a book by itself (various publication dates) and in Sara Cone Bryant's "Stories to Tell to Children" (1907). Epaminondas is a black boy who lives with his Mammy.  Every time he returns home from his Auntie's house, his Mammy scolds him with "You ain't got the sense you was born with!" Another version, titled "The Little Boy Who Tried to Obey" is printed in "The Golden Book of Nursery Tales" (1948). In this version, the boy is white and unnamed.  The story is more recently retold by Cathy Dubowski as "The Story of Epaminondas" (1989).  Sara Cone Bryant's charming original is now back in print.
Sara Cone Bryant, Epaminondas and His Auntie Or one of the retellings.
B495: That's a very old story called Lazy Jack - you can read it online here. He makes a girl laugh and cures her of her muteness, so they marry. There's also a Puerto Rican version called Juan Bobo.
B495 Surely this is a version of Epaminondas
Sara Cone Bryant (or one of her adapters), Epiminondas (or retelling derived from that), 1907 or later versions.  Sounds like another version of the Epiminondas story, originally by Sara Cone Bryant.  See several postings on this under "Golden Book of Nursery Tales" in the "G" section of your Solved Mysteries pages.
Sounds like one of the variants on Epaminondas, by Eve Merriam or other authors.
Colleen Salley, Epossumondas, 2002.  This is a common noodlehead tale from the south which has been retold in many versions. I don't know the exact one you're looking for, but if you're looking for something your kids will enjoy... The 2002 version by Colleen Saley witch tells the story of a possum fetching things the wrong way for his human momma makes kids laugh out loud! There are also two other books about Epossumondas.
See Golden Book of Nursery Tales on http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-g.html
This is one of the versions of Epaminondas.  I found a 1968 edition my Eve Merriam (reprinted as That Noodle-head Epaminondas in 1971) that fits your time frame.
I don't know the formal title, but the boy's name is Epaminondas
Elsa Jane Werner, The Golden Book of Nursery Tales, 1948.  The story described is in this book.  See Solved Mysteries.
Eve Merriam, That Noodlehead Epaminondas, 1971, reprint.  I was amazed to get so many replies so quickly, since anyone I had mentioned this story to had no idea what I was talking about.  All of the comments were on the right track, it was the story of Epaminondas.  When I searched and saw the various book covers, it turned out that the book I was looking for was That Noodlehead Epaminondas printed in 1971.  Thank you all very much.  I can't wait to share this story with my children.

M-79 is Norman the Doorman, by Don Freeman.  I loved it as a kid too!
Two possibilities: either Freeman, Don, Norman the Doorman New York, Viking Press, 1959, 64 pgs. "about Norman the mouse-doorman to the art museum, who lets all his mice friends in the museum to enjoy the art."
""Norman is a doorman. He is also a mouse. Most important of all, he is a sculptor, particularly gifted in his manipulation of mousetraps into mobiles. This story, set in a museum, boasts illustrations of rare charm and quality." Or Barnard, Patricia The Contemporary Mouse New York, Coward-McCann, 1954, 48 pages "A fable for art lover�s of a mouse�s determined pursuit of culture at Boston�s Museum Of Fine Arts. Pen-and-ink drawings by Jean Dowling. Photographs from Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston.
Don Freeman (author and illustrator), Norman the Doorman, 1959.  As stated previously, this is Norman the Doorman by Don Freeman.  Norman, a mouse, is a doorman stationed at a mouse hole in back of the Majestic Museum of Art.  He conducts tours of the artworks that are stored in the basement of the museum for other small art lovers.  (Norman first springs the mouse traps set by a sharp-eyed upstairs guard, and eats the cheese they contain.)  Norman is also an aspiring artist with a studio located in a helmet that is part of an old suit of armor.  One evening, he makes a sculpture of a mouse swinging on a trapeze.  The next morning, he sees a sign for a sculpture contest and decides to enter his work, which he calls TRAPEESE----he makes the name from part of a mousetrap label and part of a cheese label.  The tiny sculpture wins, but because the piece is unsigned, the judges can't identify the artist.  The sharp-eyed upstairs guard catches Norman and
takes him to the award ceremony.  Norman asks for, and is awarded, a grand tour of the entire art museum.  A charming book by the author/illustrator of Corduroy, A Pocket for Corduroy, and Mop Top.

Anne Holm, North to Freedom,1965.
Just wanted to add that North to Freedom has been republished under a new title, I am David.  I agree that it sounds like this is the book the poster is looking for.
Anne Holm, North to Freedom (original English translation title),  I Am David (resissue title), 1965.  Probably this book, about a twelve year old boy who is escaping from a prison camp in an unspecified location, possibly Bulgaria.  An unidentified man (probably a fellow prisoner who is a trusty) gives him a compass, a bottle of water, and a piece of soap, and instructs him to walk south to Salonika (present day Thessalonika, Greece), stow away on a ship to Italy, then walk north to Denmark.  Originally written in Danish, translated to English, and recently reissued with the title I Am David, which is closer to the original Danish title, David.  Please note that the facts of David's imprisonment are deliberately vague.  Is he in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII, or is he a political prisoner in a communist country during the 1950s?  The film version (I Am David, 2003) chooses the latter interpretation, but I believe the author deliberately omitted the historical details of her work so that the reader could focus on David's journey, both physical and personal.
Anne Holm, I am David.  The book North to Freedom is usually better known as I am David. David, post WWII, escapes from an Eastern European gulag and is told that if he goes north (from Italy) to Denmark, he may be able to find his mother.
Hi!  Thanks for the help.  North to Freedom sure sounds like the book I am thinking of.  I'll get a copy and check it out. Thanks again.

Arthur Roth, Two for Survival, 1976.  I searched around and found this which seems to match the description:  Two boys from different backgrounds are brought together as they try to reach help after surviving a plane crash in the Canadian mountains. A young reviewer at a website wrote this about the story:  "Do you know what hijacked means? Well if you read the book I read, You would find out. It's called Two for Survival by Arther Roth. It's about a plane crash in a Canadian forest in the seventies. I would give this book five stars or two thumbs up. My favorite part is when two boys are so hungry they knock a porcupine out and barbecue the meat on a fire. This book is part adventure and mostly survival."
I just realized that the poster wants a book that is before 1962.  I guess the one I submitted doesn't fit the description after all.  Sorry.
I have read this book.  I've read it in the past ten years.  I specifically remember the boy diving to try to see what they could rescue from the plane and seeing the dead pilot. He managed to pull up bags of flour with the outside crusted from water but the insides still usable. The other boy refused to let him risk his life again diving to the wreck.  The boys built a birchbark canoe and head south until they find people who can help them.  I'm still searching for the title and author - but I know this book is real.
Burton Spiller, Northland Castaways, 1957.  I have found your book!  I've been looking for this since I saw the posting since I knew that I had read it.  The title is Northland Castaways by Burton Spiller.  I originally read it from my library in  Colorado Springs, but it is no longer available there, however it is available through interlibrary loan.
You've done it again!! Someone solved my mystery book about two survivors of a plane crash - Northland Castaways, by Burton Spiller. I've looked for this book for over twenty years, with only a plot outline for a clue. I'd given up hope until I discovered your website a couple of years ago. You solved one other persistent mystery for me (Trouble At Clear Lake, Edward Janes) to my great delight. I can't thank you enough.

B221: Not THIS Bear! written and illustrated by Bernice Myers, 1967. There are at least two sequels. Also the author of My Mother is Lost and the illustrator of the sports-playing turtle Norman series.
Bernice Myers, Not this bear!, 1967.  "A small boy going through the woods in his furry coat and hat looks just like a bear--and that is what a passing bear thinks, who mistakes him for Cousin Julius and takes him to the bears' cave." 

Grace Livingstone Hill, Not Under The Law. Cousin & wife use girl as a servant. Won't let her work as a teacher. She leaves and finds a little guest house, has it moved to a property and finds a job as a teacher. An old classmate is accused of her murder when she disappears. She shows up in the courtroom to save the day.
B89 bed of newspapers: more on the suggested - Not Under the Law, by Grace Livingston Hill, published Grosset & Dunlap 1925, 336 pages, reprinted Bantam 1986, 218 pages. Can't find any more plot description though.
B89 bed of newspapers: a longer (but not very specific) plot description for the suggested title - Not Under the Law-A romance that is lovable and human and helpful; that glows warm with the charm of sweet Joyce Radway-- who can nevertheless be firm enough when occasion warrants. It tells what happened when a small boy fell in love with a princess, for to Darcy Sherwood, uncared for and neglected, exquisite little Joyce in her daintiness and refinement seemed nothing less. But once grown up, Joyce loses her kingdom and her faith in Darcy as well. It means strange scenes, ugly doubts, and perplexities in a totally different world, until, to right a wrong, the princess resumes her sway, only to find that Darcy Sherwood justifies a new trust. As in all of Mrs. Hill's stories the  haracters are real and recognizable. 

Ernest Slyman, Notes on Arrival, March 1972.  Prose/poetry about arrival to NYC.

Bernice Grohskopf, Notes on the Hauter experiment : a journey through the inner world of Evelyn B. Chestnut, 1975.  Not sure, but it sounds like this: "It was a strange school, with no exits, no teachers, a day controlled by lights, and TV screens. How, Evelyn wondered, had she gotten there and how was she going to escape."
Notes on the Hauter Experiment sounds just right. Thank you so much.

H43 home nothing nobody: This is almost certainly Nothing At All, written and illustrated by Wanda Gag, published New York, Coward-McCann 1941. The three dogs are Curly, Pointy and Nothingy, and their houses are curly, pointed, and rounded. "Nothing-at-all is such an invisible, resourceful dog as might emerge from the pages of Grimm. With the aid of a jackdaw, a magic chant, his two brothers and two adorable children, he gradually emerges from a shape."
A follow up to my recent request. I have found this book about the invisible dog who becomes visible. Thanks! I love your site!
Someone solved this on the Alibris lost books board  it's by Wanda Gag.
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I used to check this out from my local library in the 50's...I'm guessing the book is from the 40's or 50's.  As best I can recall, the plot had to do with a spotted puppy who was so shy, he'd become invisible, but his spots would remain visible.  I think he must have had some help for his problem by the end of the book.  This one's been haunting me for years -- can you help??  Thanks!

Wanda Ga'ag, Nothing at all.  Left alone when his two visible brothers are chosen as pets by a little girl and boy, an invisible puppy tries to find a way to become a dog that everyone can see and love.
Wanda Gag, Nothing at All.  This is AMAZING!!  This has got to be the book I remembered -- can't wait to check it out, after forty-plus years of wondering! Thank you so much for the info, and for this fabulous service!!

Ellen Raskin (author and illustrator), Nothing Ever Happens on My Block, 1966.  This is definitely the book being sought!  A young boy, Chester Filbert, complains about how nothing ever happens on his street.  Meanwhile, many exciting events are occurring behind his back as he sits on the curb and recites his pathetic monologue.  One of these visual stories is the witch who moves from window to window in the Victorian house and finally appears in all of them.  Ellen Raskin also wrote The Westing Game, which won the Newbery Medal in 1979.
V32 I think this may be NOTHING EVER HAPPENS ON MY BLOCK by Ellen Raskin, 1966. Chester Filbert laments that nothing ever happens, but he doesn't notice all the activity going on behind him - there's a spy creeping around, a parachutist lands, a house burns and is rebuilt, and a witch keeps popping up in various windows of a house. There is a grand Victorian
house in the pictures. I found a picture of the cover online  (just scroll down until you see the cover).~from a librarian
My mystery was SOLVED!!!  That was FAST!!!!!!  I got to see the cover and that was IT!!!!!!!!!!!  It was WELL worth the $2.00 to find out that books title and knowing I was not crazy....every time I passed by a Victorian house I kept seeing that witching face in it!  Thank you SOOOOOO much!!!!  One happy 31 year old knowing I am not nuts.
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The book was published sometime before 1991. Not sure of the title, the author's name, or the storyline (if there was a story)...all I remember is a very small witch figure in a window of a haunted looking house, with a light on. Then you turn the page and the witch has moved to a different room and the light is on in that room.  I think at the end of the book, there is a small witch figure in every single window with the light on in each room.  When I say small witch, I'm thinking the figure is probably smaller than the size of an adult's fingernail. I used to look at this book at Nicholas Library in Naperville, IL and went back with my old library card, but they didn't keep a computerized record of book check-outs at the time I was little.  It may just be a picture book, but I've been thinking about it for years and it's been bugging me! The house is either a haunted looking house or just a tall, skinny house and the witch figures are really simple and black.  If I can help in any other way to answer some questions, please let me know.  Thank you in advance for looking into this!

Raskin, Ellen, Nothing Ever Happens On My Block, 1966, copyright.  This sounds a lot like this book. I would take a look at it and see if it looks familiar.
Ellen Raskin, Nothing ever happens on my block, 1966, copyright.  Neat line drawings of houses on every page, one house always has a witch in one window until the end when they're in every window, lots of background stories behind little Chester Filbert sitting on the sidewalk saying nothing ever happens on my block! It's a very entertaining book to look at.
Ellen Raskin, Nothing Ever Happens on My Block, 1966, copyright.  Oh my goodness....I CANNOT even begin to describe how excited I am that someone could take the smallest detail (and not even a main character in a book) and know which book I was referring to. I noticed that there were suggestions below my post and promptly began to research the book in question.  I found that my local library had a copy and went there to check it out.  Sure enough, it IS the book I have been thinking about for YEARS and YEARS!  I am so excited that I can finally stop thinking about it and am glad that I contacted you for assistance.  Thank you SO MUCH for helping me resolve this mystery; I'm so glad I did not stump the bookseller.  Now I can share it with my daughter!

HRL:  sounds like Ellen Raskin's Nothing Ever Happens on My Block, 1966, except I don't remember the protagonist shooting a gun.
Neil Boyton , Nothing Ever Happens to Me!  1951.  I'm sorry to disagree, but this is definitely NOT Ellen Raskin's Nothing Ever Happens On My Block.  The Raskin book is a small but detailed picture book with only one or two lines of text per page---not the sort of book a sixth grade teacher would read to a class, because the illustrations are more important than the words!  The plot doesn't match either: Chester Filbert just sits on the curb and complains, and never fires a gun of any type.  On the other hand, Nothing Ever Happens to Me! is 141 pages long and the title and date certainly match.  Unfortunately, I can't find an online synopsis.
N62 the record  of a copy I sold says the Boyton book was set in New York City - if that is any help Lib of Cong has the bk but no subject line.
Neil Boyton, Nothing Ever Happens to Me!, 1951.This book is definitely Nothing Ever Happens to Me! by Father Neil Boyton. And it was set in New York City, as were many of his books. It is a Catholic children's fiction book printed by Bruce Publishing. Neil Boyton wrote a number of Catholic children's books that featured Boy Scouts in New York City.

S34 is driving me crazy because I am sure I know this book and I just can't remember the title.  The little boy is given a "magic" stone by his Dad that will help him think of things to do.  After a day or so, the boy realizes that he really thought of the things to do all by himself and never needed the stone.  The story ends with him giving the stone to his sister and telling her it was magic.  Now, if I could only remember the title!
S34 - I am the person who wrote in before saying that I thought I knew this one.  I remembered the book I was thinking of.  It's Russell Hoban's Nothing To Do, illustrated by Lillian Hoban.  The "children" are actually little raccoons or badgers or something, but it is definitely the same story.
Nothing To Do, by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban, published Harper 1964, 32 pages. "Walter Possum and his little sister Charlotte have those human qualities that make the behavior of Frances the badger child so engaging and self-reflecting for young listeners. Walter learns to think, when time hangs heavy and he needs something to do. A something-to-do stone, found by his father in the river, his own invention of a play-right-here stick for Charlotte, and his copying of his father's way of scratching his head and thinking - these do the trick." (Horn Book Apr/65 p.163)

This sounds like a possible - Nothing Rhymes With April, by Naomi J. Karp, illustrated by Pamela Johnson, published New York, Harcourt Voyager 1974. "A refreshing, often humorous story of life during the Depression - about a girl who is accused of plagiarism when she enters a school poetry contest to win money for a longed-for bicycle. Ages 8-12. ISBN 0-15-257579-0." (HB Apr/74 p.106 pub ad)
E25 essay contest winner: more on the suggested title, Nothing Rhymes With April, by Naomi Karp, New York: Harcourt Brace 1974 hardcover ISBN:0-15-257579-0, 125 pages. "Story of an 11 year old girl living through the Depression & whose hope of owning a second hand bicycle seems very remote until a school poetry contest offers her the chance to win enough to buy it." "Wonderful B&W drawing illustrations throughout highlight this story that takes place during the Depression in 1938. Young Mollie enters a poem in the school poetry contest and finds that she is accused of plagiarism as the result of a harmless lie and was forced to face the hard lessons of growing up in the Depression. Mollie tries to understand the injustices she sees around her and experiences herself is sparked with humor and warmth." Dustjacket has a shaded pencil drawing of a young girl looking at a bicycle in a shop window. Except for it being a poetry contest rather than an essay contest, this is a good match.
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This is a book from 1960s or 70s (I read it in about 1976 when I was 9) about a girl who wants a new bike but her family can't afford it. Then she wins an essay contest (about What America means to Me or similar topic). But her essay is so good, she is accused of cheating. In the end, a favorite teacher gives her a special gold/silver leafed notebook to encourage her as a writer. Some spot illustrations of her looking in window at the bike (this was the cover too I think). Maybe her name was Molly?

I just sent you $2 and a book search entry and then I went and checked the archives and I found out that I had sent it in before and it is solved!! THANK YOU!! Please keep the $2 as thanks.
Nothing Rhymes With April, by Naomi J. Karp, illustrated by Pamela Johnson, 1974.

"King John's Christmas" by A.A. Milne, which I think is in Now We Are Six. Very funny, and as an adult, when you think of where the ball came from, you realize that John is definitely not a "good man" in keeping it!
C70 is by A.A. Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame, from his Now We Are Six collection of poems.  It's called
"King John's Christmas".
#C70--Lonely man on Christmas:  is the classic A. A. Milne poem "King John's Christmas."  It may have appeared in a Christmas anthology, but should be universally recognized from the Winnie-the-Pooh books!  This was one of those favorite poems I always meant to memorize.  Can't say offhand whether
it is from "When We Were Very Young" or "Now We Are Six," but get the collection "The World of Christopher Robin" and it includes both books.
C70 - is in A A Milne's Now We Are Six, illustrated by Ernest H Shepard (first pub 1927 by Methuen in UK - and probably in print ever since) - it's the second poem, on page 2, called 'King John's Christmas.'
The poem may have been anthologised, and some of Milne's poems appeared in Punch before the books
came out, so it's possible your poster saw it in an annual rather than in the original book. Also reprinted with coloured ills (still Shepard) in the 1970s and as a combined volume with When we were very Young.
C70 - It's not a story but the quote "Dear Father Christmas, if you love me at all..." comes from an A.A.Milne poem in either Now We Are Six or When We Were Very Young.
Thanks Harriett.  After all these years, I did a pretty good job of describing the book.  I am really surprised by who wrote it too.  Thanks for all the help.

Interpreting Condition  Grades

Milne, A. A.  Now We Are Six.  E.P. Dutton, 1927.  Reprinted 1961.  A nice copy with dust jacket.  VG/VG  $10

M92 I just sold a pamphlet handed out by Montgomery Ward called Mrs. Santa's adventure in the sugar plum sleigh  pub by Phillips & Van Orden Co c1962
#M92:  Mrs. Santa Claus--When I was looking for the answer to my stumper Mrs. Santa's Adventure in the Sugar Plum Sleigh, I found a book called How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley, which might be the one wanted here.
This might be it!! Along the Sunshine Trail( California State Series-1960) Mother Christmas by Rose Fyleman. Helping her husband, Mother Christmas sets out but runs into trouble- she gets tangled in some telegragh wires. Fairies, keeping track of her progress, alert her- wire cutters are in the toolbox under the seat. The day is saved!! The story was originally published in Number Two Joy Street by Rose Fyleman

Wallace Wadsworth, Number 9 - The Little Fire Engine, MCML, copyright.  This was published by Rand McNally & Company, and it is a "Tip-Top Elf Book."
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Looking for an old, illustrated children's book with several stories.  One was about an old fireman and truck who were on "reserve" status until they finally got a call to fight a large fire on a freezing night.  The truck ends up covered in ice and saved the fireman when the building collapsed on both of them.  In another story, some kids find a "sick" steam shovel and make a "pill" out of tar and other stuff which brings the steam shovel back to live and it dig's a very deep hole. I assume this was published sometime in the 1930's, and had color illustrations.

The book about the fire engine is on the Solved Pages- Number 9 - The Little Fire Engine.

Is this Nutcracker and Sugardolly, by Charles A. Dana?
N12: Sorry, I should have responded earlier. Certainly, it would be pretty surprising if it weren't the same. Trouble is, Charles A. Dana is not the easiest author to find around here or on the Net. I'll assume it's the same. Thank you.

Radko Doone, Nuvat the Brave: An Eskimo Robinson Crusoe, 1934. Don't know about the crippled part, but an ice floe breaks up while young Nuvat is hunting, and he is carried to an uninhabited island where he surives alone for two years.
Radko Doone, Nuvat The Brave (An Eskimo Robinson Crusoe),1934. Possibly this one?  The story of Nuvat, an Eskimo boy, who is carried away on a drifting ice floe while seal hunting.  He must survive for two years on an uninhabited island, facing polar bears, walrus, and other hazards, before finally being rescued. Illus. in b&w by Hans Axel Walleen.
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Before 1960,  juvenile.  A young eskimo girl breaks a taboo and, in order to distance her tribe from the expected consquences of bad luck, she is banished for a year.  She must survive on her own and is not really expected to return.  Her family is reluctant but must comply with tribal norms.  She survives brilliantly and returns, but  experiences many difficulties and adventures. In a particularly harrowing scene a walrus attacks her kayak and gores her leg.   My best friend and I read this thrilling "chapter" book over and over again, 50 years ago when we were eight or nine, leapfrogging each other in checking it out from the school library.  I can't imagine that we gave the other children much of chance at it, as it was always in our hands!  My friend and I are still in touch but she can add no more details to these few, except to confirm that it was a teal-colored hardback.  I don't remember a dust cover.  There were illustrations and there may have been a smallish "stamped" illustration the cover.  This is definitely not "Julie of the Wolves" nor is it "Island of the Blue Dolphins" as the publishing timeframes and the narratives themselves are very different. Many warm thanks, in advance, to all of you out there!

Radko Doone, Nuvat the Brave, 1934, approximate.  Subtitled "An Eskimo Crusoe". If your memory is playing tricks, and the protagonist is really a boy, this might be the right book. Nuvat has a slightly crippled leg, so he is not allowed to hunt like a man, he would bring bad luck to the hunt, so he is forced to do "women's work" in the village. Breaking the taboo, he trains in secret and goes on a hunt alone. An ice floe breaks beneath him and he is swept away and must survive for almost two years alone. When he returns, his family thinks he is a ghost, but when his story is told he is fully accepted back into his village.
Maybe it is "Nuvat the Brave."  If my friend and I have thought for these 50 years that the character was a girl, it may have been because Nuvat "was made to do women's work."  Other elements fit and there's a photo of the cover of this book online that made my heart miss a beat. Teal blue, indeed!  I'm pitching it to my friend; see what she thinks.  Nuvat appears in at least two solved stumpers, too.  Meanwhile, my grateful thanks.
Radko Doone, Nuvat the Brave, 1934, copyright.  Apologies for taking so long to respond with a definite, "Yes, this is it!" but an old school library copy was purchased for me on e-bay and only arrived here, overseas, this afternoon.  Just seeing the cover made my heart skip a beat.  I'll savor reading it this weekend but have already flipped through the pages and have discovered that the illustration of the walrus attacking the kayak is exactly as I remember it, and still really frightening.  My best thanks to the poster who suggested the solution a couple of long months ago.  I'm very happy!
Radko Doone, Nuvat the Brave, 1934, copyright.  Absolutely!  I finally have the book in hand again, 50 years on, and am just thrilled.  Thanks so much for the kind help.

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