It was part of a series which included "Giants Come in Different Sizes," Pickle Chiffon Pie," and one other one I did not have, with a camel.
I still have "Pickle Chiffon Pie," and I still love it. My kids never caught on, but I have kept the book, along with many others from my childhood.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I can't find a picture, but Stories for Free Children was a favorite growing up. Free to Be You and Me has apparently been re-issued, so shouldn't be too hard to find, even though I'm not sure how recent the re-issue was!
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
They're about to reprint The Green Futures of Tycho by William Sleator, and I'm very excited. It was my favorite book in 5th grade, and I haven't read it in years.
I remember another book from when I was a few years younger called My Father the Dragon or something to that effect. I can barely remember anything about it except that I liked it, and haven't seen it around since I was in elementary school. I haven't looked for it for a while, but now I'm going to go see if it's still in print. Thanks for the motivation. Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Grrrrrrr!!! I pushe Do again instead of Add reply.
Anyway, Speed, you reminded me of another favorite: "Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet," which had a character named Tyco Bass.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hildy and the Cuckoo Clock was one of my favorites. I can't remember much about it now, but it was something about a haunted/magical house and a brother and sister having all sorts of weird, funny adventures... hey, I should try getting it through InterLibrary Loan and see if I still like it...
posted
Ooh, this is a fun thread! I've been researching and compiling my list for several years.
Adam Gray: Stowaway, by Herbert E. Arnston Andy of Pirate Gorge, by H.R. Langdale Golden Island, by Katherine Allfrey, translated by Edelgard von Heydekampf Bruehl The Shades, by Betty Brock Little Hawk and the Free Horses, by Glenn Balch Captain Ghost, by Thelma Bell Mrs. Coverlet's Magicians, by Mary Nash
I had all of those as a child, but only the first three now. Last I checked, all but Captain Ghost were pretty easy to find and reasonably priced. At the time, I could only find one copy of Captain Ghost and it was over $100! Yikes!
posted
Oh, I just remembered another one. Howard Pyle wrote a series of books about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I checked them all out from the library and absolutely devoured them when I was a kid. Last I heard, all but the first were out of print. I'd love to read those again.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
The Ghost of Opalina. Best kids' book ever. If I ever won a couple hundred dollars, I'd buy it. It was a very small printing, and most of the copies went straight to libraries, alas!
posted
I have a Golden Book copy of "Little Black Sambo," and another (hard cover) called "Petunia," both of which are not only out of print, but banned. "Petunia" is worth quite a bit of money now.
My grandmother read me "Little Black Sambo" as a child, and the image that stuck with me was the melted butter around the tree, and the pancakes.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm trying to remember a very young adult fiction book written before...1980? It was about a kid who lived on the moon with his family--he was an alien--and I think his name was Horatio? I just remember him on the cover, and he had an enormous head, and he was very pale and chunky.
They lived in cities formed in the craters.
Does anyone remember this book?
Rats.
I did, however, find the Moominfamily books. I luuuurrrved those books. One time I was reading in the bathtub (c'mon, you all do it) and I *droppped* it *in*! It dried all fanned out, but I still carried it around everywhere until my mom took pity on me (or was so embarassed) and she bought me a new copy. *grin* I haven't dropped a book in the tub since!
Posts: 1545 | Registered: May 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Have you tried Loganberry Books? It costs a couple of dollars to ask your own question, but you can browse the answers to other people's questions for free. It's a great resource for finding out of print children's books. Unfortunately, the search feature for the site is unimpressive, but there's a lot of good information there.
posted
John D. Fitzgerald's wonderful western novels Papa Married a Mormon, Uncle Will and the Fitzgerald Curse, and Mamma's Boarding House.
Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I loved reading Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories so much when I was a kid. My mom had the set of 5 orange cover books. It took me several years and lots of money on ebay but I finally got my own complete set. Then my mom gave each kid one of them so I have a complete set plus one. My own kids are starting to enjoy the stories.
I just loved the one about the little girl that was always ruining her dresses. Her daddy bought her a very special party dress and she was told not to play with it so it would stay nice. Well the next occasion rolled around only to find that she had put it on and while twirling around the room had gotten the sleeve caught on the door which tore the sleeve. She had to miss the party because she lied and disobeyed. I don't know why I loved that story so much but it was my favorite. Hmmm.... maybe I'll have to pull a volume down tonight and revisit some of my favorites.
Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
| IP: Logged |
And the original, unsanitized versions of the Dr. Dolittle books. (My parents had a nice chat with me about outdated language and attitudes the first time it came up.)
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I loved Pyle's Arthur books when I was a kid! Probably read them 10 times... wonder if I'd still like them, I remember noticing even as a kid how repetitive the jousting descriptions could be... and knowing what I know now about the Middle Ages, I might have a hard time swallowing all the stuff about virtuous knights randomly wandering around fighting villains and doing good deeds...
A book my 4th grade teacher read to us = Little Witch -- the little witch girl tries to do good even though her evil mom likes to do stuff like turn children into flowerpots... Amazon linkPosts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
CrowsWife! You are my savior! Do you have any idea how long I have been looking for that site?! Thank you!
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I loved The Little Witch and I still have a copy of it (very old, I think the price printed on it says 10 cents).
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sprockets the Little Robot and Rivets and Sprockets by Alexander Key
I went on a mad search about two years ago to find them. I found people trying to sell used library copies for anywhere from $500 - $1,000. Of course I found both for under $20 on ebay.
I can't wait for my oldest to be able to sit through me reading them to him at night.
posted
I loved the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators mystery series when I was a kid. Good stories and characters. Hardy Boys mysteries got boring and repetitive fast; the Three Investigators series was really good, up until ~#23 or so, when it suddenly went downhill.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
There is a book from my kids childhood called The Calico Bear.
I've tried to find another copy because mine has a torn page, and it's out of print.
This is the sweetest book in the world, it made me cry many times and I loved reading it to my daughter and she loved it too.
Basically, it's about a bear that is a beloved stuffed toy of a little boy. But the boy grows up and his friends make fun of him for having such a raggedy old bear so he asks his mom if she can take him away, but not to get rid of him. So his mom cuts calico bear up into squares and makes a quilt the boy sleeps under every night.
Years later, the quilt has been packed away in an attic, and the boy's mother takes it out and gives it to a young woman. The woman cuts up the quilt and sews the patches together with new pink material and gives it to a little girl who looks an awful lot like calico bear's boy.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
Anyone read Alvin Fernald books? (The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald; Alvin Fernald, Mayor for a Day; Alvin Fernald, Superweasel.) They were some of my childhood faves. Some of them became Disney movies -- The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper, etc.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
There was a Christian science fiction series by the name of Zaanan or something of that manner. There was 4 books in the series I believe, the first three published in the very late 80's and early 90's. I think the last one was published in 1994. Since then, they've all gone out of print and the publisher only seems to do Christian biographies and stuff now. I got book 2 in the series (I think it was book 2 at least) as a prize in a sort of Bible quiz type game at a church I went to. I read it and enjoyed it, which is sort of surprising for me (since I find a lot of Christian fiction to be kind of preachy). It (at least as far as I can recall) was an interesting series. That's about the only series or book I can recall from my younger days that is out of print. The rest all seem to still be in print, although the covers are much different now.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
Some of the other "Shoes" books are still in print, though.
Shut up, Kathleen Kelly.
There's a new edition of Little Black Sambo with these fabulous illustrations that somehow, inexplicably, make the original text no longer racist. I mean, it's a little weird that Sambo is black and his parents are Indian, but that's what the story says, so they go with it. It's also got a pretty cool explanation about the controversy surrounding the book as an epilogue.
My personal favorite childhood book that is out of print is Mercer Mayer's Little Monster's Bedtime Book. "At night, Pop reads to me. Tonight, he's reading monster rhymes...." I bought a used copy for my mom for far, far too much money. But it's worth it. (especially the Typhoonigator)
Posts: 67 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
KEGE, It really was more the illustrati0ns, and the name Sambo, that was the issue. It really is such a beautiful story. And those pancakes! When my grandmother read it to me, my mouth would water.
Another one she read, which I still have. (It was actually my mother's) was a book called "A Fish Story."
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've always liked Louise Cooper's fantasies, especially the Indigo series. A lot of her work's been out of print for a while, but they're finally reprinting the Time Master trilogy to start out with.
And I also love Maria Gripe's Agnes Cecilia, translated by Rika Lesser. (Or is it the other way around?) It's a beautiful Swedish YA novel that I really wish was more widely known.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Another one - has anyone else ever read any of the Honey Bunch series by Helen Louise Thorndyke? It's this series from the 1920s, basically about a cute little girl and her family adventures. Every once in a while I find one in an antique store or some such, and the ones I've read are just adorable. Someday when I have extra space and money, I want to track down the whole series. Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Dancing Shoes, Tante? Is that an alternate name for Ballet Shoes or another book in the series?
I *loved* Ballet Shoes. I still have it. And re-read it.
I haven't read any others in the series though - actually, I lie. I have read "The Circus is Coming", which, on google-age was later re-released as "Circus Shoes".
I also have that book still. With the original title. Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I loved The Mad Scientists' Club books. They are reprinting them, even the two full length books that never really got published before. I'm excited.
I read a Honey Bunch book once, I think. I had a Honey Bunch doll, too, but I don't think it was related.
I also collect the Maida series. Maida's Little Shop, Maida's Little School, etc.
There a a bunch of childrens' books about magic that I just loved but I can't think of any names offhand.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
No, Dancing Shoes is not an alternate title. And I can't believe it's out of print! That's terrible. I loved the Shoe books. And my daughter is the right age for them . . . and has a major birthday in a few months . . .
Tennis Shoes (which I may have actually not read) seems to be really and truly out of print. So are Family Shoes, Movie Shoes, Traveling Shoes, Skating Shoes (my favorite!), Circus Shoes, and New Shoes. But I'm ordering all the others.
The Family from One End Street was out of print already when I was a kid. I read my mom's copy of it (and its sequel). But they've fallen apart . . . so I'm getting that too. (Sadly, the sequel is too rich for my blood.) *blink* There are two sequels? ooooh . . . but both are quite expensive. Unless the one cheap place I found still has them . . . *pops off email*
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hey, Rivka's name reminds me, there was a cute book or series of books about a Jewish family with a bunch of kids. Showed life from the kids' point of view and mentioned holidays and fasting days and such. That was a lot of fun to read. Probably educational too. Anyone know that series? I think the kids were all two years apart, all girls, except the baby.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by imogen: Actually, Rivka, I looked it up and it appears (Dancing Shoes, that is) to in fact be an alternate title for Ballet Shoes.
How can that be? They have different plots, and were originally published 20 years apart?!
Dancing Shoes:
quote: Aunt Cora is determined to turn two orphans, perky Hilary and sullen Rachel, into members of her dance troupe. But Rachel wants to keep Hilary from being one of Wintle’s Little Wonders—is it selfishness or something else? Misunderstandings and a spoiled cousin come together for a tale full of high drama. Originally published in 1957.
Ballet Shoes:
quote: In the tradition of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Little Princess come Noel Streatfeild’s tales of triumph. In this story, three orphan girls vow to make a name for themselves and find their own special talents. With hard work, fame just may be in the stars! Originally published in 1937.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
so I have a complete set plus one. My own kids are starting to enjoy the stories. ![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
