Best of
Juvenile

1961

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower


Rumer Godden - 1961
    Then a box arrives for her and inside are two little Japanese dolls. Nona thinks that they must feel lonely too, so far away from home. Then, Nona has an idea - she will build her dolls the perfect house!

The Secret World of Og


Pierre Berton - 1961
    Berton often cited The Secret World of Og as his favourite of his forty-seven books. It has sold more than 200,000 copies in four editions.The series follows the five Berton children, Penny, Pamela, Peter, Patsy, and baby Paul (better-known as “The Pollywog”) as they discover and explore a vast,mysterious world of caverns and rivers hidden beneath a trapdoor in the floor of their clubhouse. In their subterranean adventures, they befriend the little green inhabitants called Ogs, share their worldly knowledge with them, and, at the same time, gain a little wisdom themselves.The series is directed by Paul Schibli who also directed the long-running CBC series The Raccoons.

Owls in the Family


Farley Mowat - 1961
    Wol brings dead skunks to the family dinner table and terrorizes the minister, the postman, and the French teacher. Weeps is a comical bird, afraid of everything except Mutt, and he never does learn how to fly. Here is the heartwarming story of how a boy named Billy finds Wol and Weeps and unwittingly adds two new members to the family.

The Large and Growly Bear (A Little Golden Book)


Gertrude Crampton - 1961
    

Christmas is a Time of Giving


Joan Walsh Anglund - 1961
    

What's for Lunch, Charley?


Margaret Hodges - 1961
    And when it's bad, it's really bad. On one of his good days, he buys the little box of chocolates but really doesn't know who to give it to. He just buys it because he's on time, has a little money, is feeling good and organized and on top of things. On a subsequent bad day, he forgets his lunch (again) and in an attempt to make something good of it, bravely goes to lunch at the King Charles Hotel. The mother of Rosabelle, a new girl in his class, works at the hotel and Charley has often envied Rosabelle's fancy lunches - made from leftovers of the hotel kitchen. While dining, Charley bumps into his father... (Loganberry Books)

Her Majesty, Grace Jones


Jane Langton - 1961
    A young Ohio girl becomes convinced that she is an English princess and the true heir to the British throne.

Dookie, Sookie, and Big Mo


Alice Mertie Underhill - 1961
    Big Mo is well-known in his tribe as a great fighter and an alcoholic. A rich, four-cow man, he doesn't feel the need of anything. That is, until the day he attends a burning of a dead mother and her still living child. Feeling pangs of injustice, Big Mo tries to save the infant, but is too late. The witch doctor condemns his actions, and Big Mo begins a journey to find meaning in his life and answers to his questions. During this time he finds Dookie, an abandoned infant about to be devoured by wild dogs. After saving the child, Big Mo attempts to raise the child on his own. As the child grows, she makes friends with another girl who is her own age and who is a Christian. This sparks a feud between himself and the tribal witch doctor who curses Big Mo and Dookie with the "curse of the snake." Ironically, the young child is bitten by a poisonous snake a few months later and becomes deathly ill to the point that a cure seems hopeless. Is the power of the evil spirits stronger than the Christian magic that Big Mo is learning about? Follow the tales of Big Mo and his adoptive daughter, Dookie, in their Indian village as they learn about the Great Spirit from the Christians. A must-read for all ages, Dookie, Sookie, and Big Mo will make you laugh and cry, and bring you closer to the Christian God they are learning to love, Jesus Christ.

A Journey to Matecumbe


Robert Lewis Taylor - 1961
    It has taken me several attempts to locate it. It is the story of a boy who takes a trip from Illinois to the Florida Keys. It has everything from hurricans to Seminole in it. Glad I found it again.

Snowman


Rutherford G. Montgomery - 1961
    After seeing the references to Elizabeth Lett's new book, "The Eighty Dollar Horse...," I went to my bookshelf and pulled this one off. I have had it for years and it is not one which will be culled. Other reviewers of the Letts book remarked how the story is as much about Harry as Snowman; this is true. This book and story grabbed my horse-hungry heart years ago and has never left it.

Tell Me Some More...


Crosby Newell Bonsall - 1961
    Andrew introduces his friend to a magical place--the library--where he can ' hold a camel in his hand ' or ' carry home a steam shovel.' ' Highly original and full of fun.' --H.

Mrs. Cockle's Cat


Philippa Pearce - 1961
    One rainy day, Peter is cross because there are no fish. Finally, he can stand it no longer and goes to do something about it.

The Borrowers Aloft: With the Short Tale Poor Stainless


Mary Norton - 1961
    They've moved into a house in a miniature village built as a hobby by a retired railroad man. The village is the perfect size for Borrowers, and after the hardships they've faced, the Clocks gratefully settle into the luxury of having a "proper" house. The easy life makes them careless.Or rather, it makes Arrietty careless. She befriends a "human bean," and the next thing Arrietty knows, she and her family have been kidnapped. Their captors are a greedy married couple, called the Platters, who have big plans for the little people. They have created their own miniature village in a glass case and plan to imprison the Borrowers within - like animals in a zoo - for the rest of their lives.Also features the short Borrowers tale Poor Stainless

Here Come the Dolphins!


Alice E. Goudey - 1961
    Goudey

Tony's Birds


Millicent E. Selsam - 1961
    A young boy goes for a bird walk with his father, and soon he has learned about using the field glasses and guide book, and is watching birds by himself.

Jack and the Beanstalk: A Retold English Fairy Tale (Rand McNally Start-Right Elf Books #8167)


Unknown - 1961
    The illustrations by Anne Sellers Leaf include a ladybug on each spread that little ones will enjoy looking for.