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It will take Google a few weeks to connect with this new site since Disqus hasn’t functioned well since December. We welcome your comments now, but feel free to repost later in March. Suzanne
Hoping for help with a book title. I read it in the 1950s. It concerned a small boy who was given a series of tasks by his mother and would apply what he learned from one task to his next task with disastrous results. I recall he was sent to buy butter and it had all melted by the time he arrived home, so when he was sent to get a kitten he put it in ice water and it died by the time he got home. This sounds too awful to be an accurate memory, but it’s what I recall now. Thanks for any help.
Thanks. I’ll see if I can remove gifs from the response options. I don’t see that on the admin side.
Go to abe books advanced search (on this page) and enter Pippi Longstocking in the title, Oxford in the publisher, and a publication date 1957 to 1957. I do not know the bookseller but they are PBFA. If you want to wait for a better jacket, just remember this search.
Abe’s advanced search is reliable, unlike Amazon, because they require booksellers to upload individual fields.
This is:
The mailbox mice mystery. / Julie Mahr & Graham Percy (illustrator). 1998
When all the cheese in Little falls mysteriously disappears, Watson Mouse is on the case. Following the five easy steps of ‘How to be a famous detective’, by renowned detective Marlowe Mouse, Watson embarks on his quest to track down the lost cheese with the help of some rather unusual clues
ah yes! Thank you so much, I have been looking for so long.
I’m trying to remember a book I read as a young kid (maybe kindergarten?). This would have been early 90s, but I think the book was probably published much before that. The plot involved an evil woman who lived on a farm and grew lots of vegetables (I think they included turnips or radishes, but I’m not sure). And there’s a little girl who I believe wears a kerchief and is picking the vegetables and gets in trouble. I don’t remember if she’s a neighbor girl who is picking vegetables she shouldn’t, or if she’s the grand-daughter of the evil woman and vegetable picking is her chore but she still gets in trouble. The illustrations were in kind of washed out colors, nothing too bright or cartoon-y. I hope that helps, because this is driving me mad!
I am looking for a Pippi Longstocking book printed in 1957 by Oxford University Press by Astrid Lindgren and illustrated by Richard Kennedy
Looking for a 70s or early 80s book about a ghost that ate so much toast that he had to be pulled around in a wagon.
I’m looking for a children’s picture book about a girl who imagines she is in a land of candy. If I remember right, she rides thru the sky on a bed made of candy.
I’m looking for a book from the 70s about a little girl who observed nature in a meadow. I remember a cricket or grasshopper in the story and it had very simple illustrations. Thank you!
I am looking for a book I believe is called “What would Jesus do?” the character is on the front cover looking defeated and he’s wearing bellbottoms, his name is John Q public and he has a dog and a cat, its about him having a bad day like first he wakes up late for work, then his car won’t start, then he gets splashed at a bus stop, he’s late for work etc and at the end of it he is shown praying to Jesus with his dog and cat and they are praying as well, its really cute. On each page the character asks “what would Jesus do?” because he was having a very hard day. Ive been searching for this book for the better part of the last 10 years and I believe its a self publication from the South Tacoma Christian Church in Tacoma, Washington.
I’m trying to remember a book my grandmother used read to me in the early 90’s, I think the book itself is from the early 80’s but frankly could be from the 50’s – 90’s (probs 80’s) if she read it to my mom. Mom has no idea what book I’m talking about so she is useless to me right now lol.
It’s a children’s picture book about several made up animals such as log in the water is actually an alligator/crocodile that is camouflaged to eat fish – but gator-log is so slow that by the time it closes its mouth the fish is gone. The other animal I recall was a snake that puts its tail in its mouth to roll down a hill for fun. I remember the cover was primarily green & had a zebra on it, but the made up version of the zebra thats featured in the book. I can’t remember any of the other animals, I think there were 15-ish.
If anyone knows the book plz help! I’m trying to buy it for my niece since I’m baby-less & I want another generation of our family to read it!
Im lookig for two childrens books one is about a monster or dinosaur who lives with a family and they build him a bedroom under the stairs and I remember monster/dinosaur said thankyou to the family but he was suppose to eat them but not sure what the book is called and I am looking for a book about a little girl I remember in the book she had a friend and she was a bit jealous of her and she went into hospital with tonsilitis but not sure what the book is called.
lOOKING FOR A CHILDRENS BOOK WHITEY RABBITS BIRTHDAY (NOT CERTAINOF THE CORRECT TITLE)
Those Terrible Toy Breakers by David McPhail.
“Bernie has convinced Walter than a lion, a tiger, and an elephant are breaking the toys he leaves outside at night. When Bernie helps Walter set a trap to capture the culprits, the reader will get a surprise!”
Those Terrible Toy-Breakers, by David McPhail.
Looking for a children’s book that was read in the late 90s. The main character is an alien who is found in the woods and his name is Zeke. The other main character is a female, name unknown. Help?
You’re welcome!
Tony’s Hard Work Day, by Alan Arkin.
That is it! Thank you so much, my family thought I was making it up.
Great! Glad to help.
Maybe this one?
“The muddle-headed wombat in the treetops” by:Park, Ruth
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4195091-muddle-headed-wombat-in-the-treetops
Mama Squirrel is a wonder but PLEASE DO NOT post these things. Book related links or media only. I can’t seem to edit them out on disqus. Thanks.
Suzanne— I used what was available in the response field, and gif is part of the response options, so I just presumed it was allowed: and did not know. That said, you do not need to post huge letters as a deterrent. It’s akin to a shout. A simple request would have sufficed and been respected.
I’m looking for a children’s picture book probably from the 70s featuring either a wombat or a mongoose and 2 other animals in a tree afraid of another animal on the ground
I’m looking for a children’s book or middle grade fantasy novel (I read it in elementary school and it was from our school’s library).
The main characters are a pair of siblings (one girl and one boy and I think the boy was younger but I’m not sure). Their family wins tickets for a trip (a cruise?). I remember, in the beginning of the book, one of the kids tried on their grandmother’s glasses and was able to see a whole new layer to reality, psychedelic waves and formerly invisble creatures now visible to the wearer.
The family goes on this trip and ends up in a jungle. The boy goes missing (or runs off to explore/because he sees something). Anyway, he leaves and his sister chases after him and ends up having to save him.
The only phrases I remember from it is “once in a blue moon” because that was the first time I heard that idiom.
This book was definitely published before 2011. I’m guessing it was published sometime in the 2000s, but it could be earlier.
Any suggestions are much appreciated!
This reminds me of The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell! Is this what you were looking for?
Oh dang I don’t know, but this totally just unlocked a memory! And his sweater gets ripped in the storm…
Sorry, Kaya. I’m trying to keep these images book related only. thanks, Suzanne
to our readers: PLEASE DO NOT post these things. Book related links or media only. I can’t seem to edit them out on disqus. Thanks.
was it a Magic School Bus book maybe?
Hi, I’m looking for a children’s picture book about a kid named Walter who builds a trap for lions and tigers and bears who keep breaking his tricycle. I used to read it in the early 90s!
I am looking for a picture book from no later than the 90s, but could easily be from earlier than that. It is about a kid that is frustrated with his life so he goes into the woods(?) and builds a house made at least partly of stone. I think at the end his family discovers it and they spend part or all of their time at the kid’s place. Thanks!
Lilo Hess, A Cat’s Nine Lives, is about a cat named Misty; but it wasn’t published until 1984.
Thank you, but I definitely read it before 1971.
I’m looking for a Childrens book. Late 80s to early 90s. It had a purple cover and it was short bedtime stories inside. One of the stories had a little girl who loses her mom in the candy store. I believe there was a girl in a bed on the cover with moon and stars.
Hi I’m looking for the name of a children’s book that my teacher read to me when I was younger. It is about a child who is scared of a house (down the street?) As it looks scary and dirty from the outside but one day his mum takes him there and inside the house is messy and full of happy children playing and at the end the child can’t wait to go back to the house again.
I’m looking for a children’s book from around 1997-2002, about a detective mouse looking for a cheese thief, after some cheese is stolen from a shop in the village. I think the mouse gets the blame and so starts to look for the thief. The book is full of little pop-up and lift-flaps containing clues and letters to the mouse, there’s also a page with a little plastic film mirror and a card with reversed letters on that have to be seen through the mirror.
Many thanks for your advice! I love reading to our 4 year old girl, and remembered “The Humpty Dots” as a favorite from my own childhood, and thought it would be fun to read to her!
Hope you find it! A lot of people seem to have loved it. (The original version was spelled with a hyphen Humpty-dots, although that usually doesn’t affect a search.
I’m looking for a children’s book i believe it’s about a cowboy who dies after seeing an upside down buzzard or something like that.
I’m looking for a book of short stories, most likely from the 90s, possibly the 80s. The stories had a slight mystery/twist bent to them. The one I remember most clearly was about a boy who had come up with an idea for a chocolate bar, then started seeing adverts for an upcoming chocolate bar the same as he’d invented. The front cover was very lurid/neon coloured swirls (super 90s) and featured the chocolate bar. Very vague I know! Thank you
Sounds like it might be from one of the Paul Jennings collections
The cover isn’t a match (at least, not the three versions of the cover that I found online) but there’s a monkey in The Castle of Fear by Patrick Burston.
“Your mission in this puzzle book is to rescue your friends imprisoned in the Castle of Fear, but beware! The wicked wizard has set many traps. You and your monkey companion, Zetto, must find a way past monsters, vampire bats, a dragon, the Slime Serpent and other terrifying dangers!”
This just seems to be very scarce, although it has been on Amazon. Try addall.com, sometimes you can pick up a small site there. Also, search it on Abe (not there) and put a Want on it
I’m trying to locate a book that I read in the 1960s. It was about a girl who wanted to be a movie star. I believe the time setting for the book may have been during the depression. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you so much!
Little Boys / Glenn Melenhorst. McMillan (2005) Tim loves sausages. He loves them so much he eats them morning, noon and night. Then he meets Sammy, a sausage who eats little boys!
Hi, I have desperately been trying to find a book from my childhood and I am hoping that someone may either remember the title or know the book? It was a choose your own adventure picture book with a boy that went through a castle and from what I can remember had a pet monkey (I think) the front cover I think was a small boy and the monkey standing in front of the castle. I know it’s a massive long shot but I would love to reconnect with this book as it brought so many happy memories taking it out from the library, hope someone maybe able to help. Thank you
I’m searching for “The Humpty Dots”, buy Susan Holton, originally published Jan 1,1945. It was read to me when I was a little boy, and was a favorite; now, I’d like to read to a 4 yo little girl.
Any chance it’s Thomasina by Paul Gallico?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomasina,_the_Cat_Who_Thought_She_Was_God
(He also has another cat book titled Jennie, also published as The Abandoned, about a boy who is hit by a car when he runs into the road to rescue a cat – and then wakes up as a cat himself. A stray cat named Jennie takes care of him and teaches him how to survive as a cat.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/610718.Jennie
Thank you, but it isn’t either of them. I want to say the cat might be named misty.
DeDe Takes Charge!, by Johanna Hurwitz.
Thanks! 🙂
You’re welcome, and thanks for posting back.
Could also be The Borrowers Aloft.
No, it’s for sure not about people 🙁 might be different animals, but pretty sure they were rodents.
Margery Sharp’s The Turret checks the mice and turret boxes but I’m not sure it’s the right one. Third in Miss Biance series.
I am looking for a book/game about a sausage who loves eating humans and a little boy who loves eating sausage, at the end they ens up both eating brussel sprouts instead
I’m looking for an old children’s book for my mom. It was read to her in school as a child (1940’s early 50s). It’s about a 13 year old Native American boy who must spend a winter or possibly a whole year on his own. A sort of coming of age test or ritual. During this time he befriends a white wolf who helps him survive. Any ideas?? Thank you!
Hi! I’ve been trying to find a book for years now and came across your forum. Hope you can help! It’s about 2 mice (pretty sure!?) who get captured and put in a turret. In it, they discover a deflated hot air balloon and a lever that opens the roof. They manage to get the air balloon fired up and escape.
Thanks for your help!
Hi. I’m looking for a book about a girl with braces living with her divorced mother and her dog Cookie. The girl periodically visits her father and she has broiled lobster at a restaurant every time. She gets her mother to join a “vegetable club” to make friends by buying vegetables in bulk. Instead, the mother really makes no new friends and she ends up with too many vegetables. But she does make a paper-mache head of Marie Antoinette for her daughter’s school play, which brings the two closer together. On Thanksgiving, the girl and her mother eat at a restaurant. This makes the girl upset at first, but she enjoys it by the end. The ending has her school putting on a production of “Guys and Dolls”. The girl tries to introduce her mother to a single man at her school, but the mother tells her she can find her own dates.
Hi, looking for a book I loved in primary school about a couple who grow old together. The man goes to war and the women works in a hat store. They get married. I recall the cover being quite busy with them on the front in wedding clothes and possibly photographs around them.
It would be pretty old as I am now 30. Any help would be great.
I’m trying to find a picture book from the 70s which had a whole stack of Soviet style boring cars and very little colour, and then all these fantastic colourful cars turning up. Looking back, I suspect it was a bit of western “propaganda” about how much more imaginative and creative the west is. No idea of the title, though.
I’m trying to find an elementary school book from either the late 50s or 60s. The story has a cat that goes through several (9?) lives. I believe it was hardbound, but I can’t remember if it had illustrations or just writing. Perhaps it had a picture for each chapter. Any help would be marvelous.
Is this The Runaway? or Runaway Girl (US) by Ruth Morris? I ran across this blog as I looked for it, having remembered Norris. https://emeraldlamp.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-runaway-by-ruth-morris_17.html
A family is camping, parents leave the kids for some reason, while they’re gone something causes a rock slide making it impossible for the parents to reach the kids. I remember something about flooding and the kids having to climb trees to stay alive. I read it probably 15-20 years ago when I was in school.
Tatsinda by Elizabeth Enright?
Tatsinda?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/565952.Tatsinda
The Bone Talker, by Leekahl.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1314675.The_Bone_Talker
Wonderful! Thank you so much. <3 It's a gorgeous book, and I keep recommending it. but not having the title was frustrating. Many thanks!
Shoes for Angela, by Ellen Bartow Snavely.
The fifth story is some variation on an old folktale, “Stone Soup.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup
The first story about the grey world sounds like The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments by Arnold Lobel.
” The story is a simple one of how once upon a time the world was without colour. Then a wizard created something new which he called blue. All the neighbours loved it and wanted to have some; so he made more and they painted the whole world blue. At first they were happy but then they became very sad and depressed. So the wizard went back to his magic pot and created a new colour he called yellow. The story goes on like this through the colour spectrum, with considerable humour and very detailed pictures for conversation with a child. In the end all is well as the magic pot broke and all the colours at once were mixed up. “
This may be too recent, but perhaps An Orange in January by Dianna Aston?
The bulk of the book is about where oranges come from, from a blossom on the tree through seasons of rain and sunshine, to harvest at being shipped across country to arrive in the store – but at the end, the boy takes the orange to school and shares it with his friends.


Oh!! and this is a picture book that would have been read to a kid ages 4-9 years
I was given a book in primary school I had to read I’m 35 now and trying to figure out what it was, I think it was about a little boy who was give an orange by his mother and attempting to eat it has to share it with other characters that he comes across? I’m sure the front cover had a black boy holding the orange in two hands?
Hello! i’m looking for a book from my childhood and i just can’t seem to find it. I remember the whole book being brown and having an off white look to it the book also had a matte feeling to it too. On the cover there was a man he seemed pretty old he might’ve had glasses on he was also white ( he kinda looked like the man from ratatouille haha ) and he was holding a chocolate that looked like a ferrero chocolate. i used to read this book back in 2014-2016 if that’s helpful
Hello – I am looking for a book about a little girl, who brings home a menagerie of animals
(possibly 12 of them). The animals are common domestic animals, nothing
exotic, eg. dog, cat, rabbit, bird, horse, etc… The book’s illustrations
were described as whimsical. It would have been published prior to 2009.
Main character description:
– little blonde girl
– blue eyes
– fair skin
– ponytail
– wearing pants
if anyone has any leads, I would be grateful.
Daughter now nearly 40 had a book on tape about children learning about science, where the kids became :” Smaller Than A Mouse…’ we have looked often on line over the years for a reprint, since we are not sure of the name we need help.
Hi, I’m looking for a set of colored (fantasy?) story compilation books from when i was a kid (books are different solid colors, about 10/11” tall, thin) they each hold a handful of different stories. Here’s some of the stories that i remember:
A wizard comes to give color to a grey world (one color at a time)
An old couple discover a money tree
A story about a girl being visited by toys (from her dreams?)
A story about a small mischievous imp
A story about a man who brought a rock to a town and tricked everyone into making soup from it
Story about a grandmother that traveled
There was one book that was Celtic/Norse themed with beautiful art and a story about thor
any any any help is wildly appreciated
What year was this published/did you read it? Was the entire book about the giraffe at the restaurant or was there more involved? Was it a picture book?
hello! could it perhaps be “The Scent Keeper” by Erica Bauermeister?
hello! i’m sorry for the very vague description, but I read this book in 5th grade and I m currently in college and can only remember the fact that it was an orange book, the mc was a girl, and im pretty sure it was sort of a diary? it was not dork diaries though! i’m not even sure about the diary part, but i know the girl had some problem she was trying to solve… i know the book was orange 100% if that helps. was also elementary level this was back in maybe 2012 or 2013.
Perhaps Matilda and Her Family by Miriam E. Mason.
From an online review: ” It’s a very sweet, gentle story of a cat named Matilda that was searching for a home and found one. It describes her life with the humans and the dog and the family she eventually has. The stories then revolve around each of her kittens, their personalities, and how each one found their own homes and their own start in life.”
The book has been reprinted several times with different colored covers. While I can’t find a picture of the red cover, the two interior pictures I found (below) do appear to be of the red-covered version.

https://imgur.com/a/JhFlHNv
https://imgur.com/a/iJxMdEz
I’m looking for a book about a little girl who has 2 pairs of shoes: black & brown & asks for shoes from every relative for her birthday. She gets many different fun shoes like cowboy boots and rain boots, etc but she doesn’t take care of them and comes to realize that maybe she didn’t really need so many shoes after-all.
I’m looking for a book about bears, in the spinal cord of the book it had a encasing and in the encasing it had multiple bears in fluids which were multi colored. They would mold over time. I remember the book having blue on it and I believe their were multiple colors of the bears, the bears in the spinal cord encasing definitely were multi colored. I’d guess the book was made in the early 2000s maybe? I’d really appreciate if anyone knows anything about it!
I’m looking for an illustrated children’s book I read in the 80s. I feel like the cover had a mountain on it. I feel like all the people who lived on this mountain had white hair and blue eyes and then one day a girl with blond hair and brown eyes showed up. I think she was adopted by an old childless couple. Ring any bells?
Looking for a Canadian Picture book of an old woman who talked to her bones
Jenny Giraffe Discovers the French Quarter?
I’m looking for a book about a stuffed teddy bear that got stuck in a tree in a storm. I think he had a sweater on. Read it in the 80s or 90s and can’t find it.
looking for a picture book about a girl who only wants to eat blue foods. i think she ends up turning blue until she learns to eat other foods. i think she was blonde as well, if that helps
I’m desperate too find this book as my grandma recently passed away and she used too read it all the time. It was about a little girl who I think lived with her Nonna and when she was moving away from her her grandma made her a pillow with her name on it. I think it was heart shaped with her name on it. In one part I think she was being made fun of for it at school and they were tossing it around and a little boy stepped in and stood up for her and they were friends at the end.
I apologize for this VERY vague description. Im looking for my favorite book as a child. It was a hardback book, beige background with an illustration of a very tall giraffe peeping his head thru a restaurant window.
I’m looking for a childrens book from late 70’s. I don’t remember the title and only remember one page. The little girl is being carried up the stairs and she tells her mom “When I am big and you are little I will carry you up the stairs.” Any ideas?
Oh Melissa Thankyou so much that’s it.xxxxx
I’m looking for a red cover book with a cat in it named Matilda. It is an older book (not
Matilda, The Algonquin Cat) possible from the 1930s or 1940s.
Maybe Bialosky’s Christmas by Leslie McGuire and illustrated by Jerry Joyner. Published by Golden Book in 1984.
Bialosky plans a wonderful Christmas party and spends all day preparing for it, but he forgets to do one important thing.
There are a couple of spreads dedicated to choosing the tree – one is too fat, one too tall etc until he finds just the right one to take home.
Hello, I am looking for a picture book my daughter in law enjoyed reading with her mother in the 1990’s. It was about an old person (probably a woman) who put people in bottles and collected the bottles on a shelf. It sounds scarier than it was. Does anyone remember the name and author of this book please? Thank you.
Pom Pom the Fuzzy Dog, by Virginia Cunningham.
This is not the right book, but just so you can eliminate it.. another black fuzzy wuzzy poodle book, Woofus. https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&cm_sp=SearchF-_-Advtab1-_-Results&ds=30&kn=poodle&pn=fuzzy%20wuzzy&recentlyadded=all&sortby=17&sts=t
I see two others, not yours, Snowball and Pom Pom the Fuzzy Dog. Lots of Fuzzy Wuzzy poodles, who knew? These books were published by Whitman in the 40s and 50s . There must be more modern ones.
I think it’s Pom Pom–that one takes place in a hat shop. The story was also included (without the fuzzies) in the Big Big Story Book.
Thanks for writing back and letting us know!
I’m looking for a book that was about a little bit and his stuffy that was a small rabbit thing, the story was about winding down and getting ready for bed. It had a white hardcover and the kid wore little bunny slippers. The illustration was soft colours. The kid had redish short hair. His name might have been Rory
Found it online, so no need to research! It’s The Sesame Street Book of Fairy Tales.
Going out on a limb: “Tear-Water Tea” in Arnold Lobel’s book Owl At Home.
https://www.philosophyforchildren.org/questionslibrary/owl-at-home-tear-water-tea/
Thanks! I checked it out and it doesn’t ring any bells, but always worth trying when it’s long-ago memory.
Thanks for suggestion. I will check it out.
Hello. I am looking for a children’s book about a black french poodle (Fifi) that belonged to the owner of a hat store. The book was filled with tactile fuzzy poodle pictures. The story was about making hats with ribbons…and the wonderful playful Fifi.
I remember one brown book called the wind in the trees a photo can be seen of
Huge animated cloud blowing wind in the trees one story
I remember but not title was the old man who was poor and the old
Woman who helped him and her red cloth kept getting larger
The rich Woman who first dismissed him now wanted to offer him
Food but only for selfish means
Another story perhaps a different series books was The Pig in the parlour
I cannot find the books anywhere
Only found them in my school
Rivelin primacy school
Could be Suzanne Bloom, We Keep a Pig in the Parlor (1988).
Was this a response to my question?
“Wind in the Trees” could be the one by E.S. Bradburne, “Silver Book 2,” published by Schofield and Sims in 1971.
There’s a children’s story called The Cry Away Bird by Wanda Gág (better known for her book Millions of Cats) that was published in the May, 1935 issue of Delineator (pg. 39). Some of her other stories – including Millions of Cats, The Funny Thing, and The ABC Bunny – were reprinted in other books during the 1960s and 1970s, so perhaps this one was as well?


Thanks! Something interesting to follow up on. Wanda is certainly fascinating, it shifts my feeling of the story to imagine she wrote it.
Hi!
I’m looking for a children’s story collection that contains one story in particular. I cannot remember the name of the story, but it involved a kingdom whose king kept constructing and adding to his castle until it took up his entire kingdom borders. Does anyone know what story this is and what collection it is from? Any help would be appreciated.
That’s great! And thanks for posting back.
There is now only ONE item left on my “tormenting me from childhood; I can’t remember what this was” list.
Some kind of novel, possibly a series of short novels, appropriate for precocious elementary schoolers.
75% confident it involved crossing the land of the dead (I think the plot might’ve been a bunch of dead people trying to help the one living kid get back to the land of the living?).
Most salient memory: at one point, they were crossing a desert wasteland, and there was a huge storm with tornadoes and lightning, and the lightning struck the sand and turned it to glass.
It would’ve been available in a public library somewhere around 1990-1996.
Thanks!!
Mrs. Duck’s Lovely Day, by Vivienne Blake.
yes this is it!!! thank you so much, I never thought I’d find it. Thank you, thank you!!!
The Silver Curlew?
Hi!
I’m looking for a children’s illustrated book from the ’70s about a bird that cried all the time. I think because it collected sad stories in a book that it wore on a chain around it’s neck? The resolution is that someone tells the bird it should only collect happy stories (maybe that’s when it gets the book to wear?) and then re-read the happy stories all the time. I though it was titled something about a cry-away bird, but search results are now dominated by a more recent YA book about a go-away bird.