Children's lit book with this scene--ETA: It was What the Witch Left!

[Chris in VA]

Girl buys a walnut with a little scene (Christmas maybe) in it. Was it Little Town on tbe Prairie? A Little Princess?

[Chris in VA]

Anyone? Someone must know

 

[Carol in Cal.]

I am pretty sure it wasn’t A Little Princess.  

[Tenaj]

I remember this but can't come up with a title!  Now it's driving me crazy!

[fairfarmhand]

Not little town on the prairie.

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, JanOH said:

I remember this but can't come up with a title!  Now it's driving me crazy!

Do you remember any more details, Jan? I don't even know the book and it's going to drive ME crazy until we figure it out! :) 

[Carol in Cal.]

Is it this one by chance?

https://rhythmsofplay.com/walnut-shell-manger-christmas-ornament/

[BakersDozen]

GAH! I know the book but cannot for the life of me think of the title. And now it will keep me thinking until it comes to me.........

[BakersDozen]

Seeing as some of you have your brains whirling regarding a book title, here's another challenge: Children's book about a man who collects shadows. He stuffs the shadows into a room that is so full it is completely black. Ends up putting shadows back with objects.

Anyone?

[Rachel]

Do you have any more details about the walnut scene? It doesn’t sound familiar to me. 

[Rachel]

Oh you mean there was a design inside the walnut? 

[Chris in VA]

8 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Is it this one by chance?

https://rhythmsofplay.com/walnut-shell-manger-christmas-ornament/

No I need the book title. The character buys or is given a walnut that  contains a scene of some sort in it. I think she opens the walnut. I feel like it is Laura, but whomever she is, she opens it with a sense of wonder. When I remember this scene, in my mind's eye, the character is definitely a girl, not a little girl but more like a teen. I feel it is set in the past, like in Laura Ingall's time. I don't think it is Little Women. Maybe Caddie Woodlawn?

I don't have any of my books here in Jerusalem. Can someone check Caddie for me? 😊

Edited December 5, 2018 by Chris in VA

[Rachel]

I’ll ask my kids if they remember it in Caddie Woodlawn. 

[MercyA]

17 hours ago, Chris in VA said:

17 hours ago, Chris in VA said:

I don't have any of my books here in Jerusalem. Can someone check Caddie for me? 😊

 

I flipped through my pastor's wife's copy at our Bible study tonight. I skimmed the book twice and didn't see it or really anything about Christmas. Sorry! 

ETA: *But* my pastor's wife said the scene sounded familiar to her and that she thought it might be in Caddie! Maybe I missed it. Hoping Rachel will chime back in. :)

Edited December 6, 2018 by MercyA

[MercyA]

Okay, my friend skimmed the book herself and asked her kids, and she doesn't think it is Caddie. They are reading it aloud right now and are almost done with it, and the kids don't remember anything like that.

[MercyA]

On 12/4/2018 at 7:24 PM, BakersDozen said:

Seeing as some of you have your brains whirling regarding a book title, here's another challenge: Children's book about a man who collects shadows. He stuffs the shadows into a room that is so full it is completely black. Ends up putting shadows back with objects.

Anyone?

I think I'm a pretty good googler and honestly thought this one would easy to find, but I confess defeat! Hopefully someone else will remember it!

[itsheresomewhere]

Not any with little house.  I don’t remember it in caddie.  

I know I had read this scene but don’t remember what book.  I could swear the book wasn’t a long one.

[Chris in VA]

2 hours ago, heartlikealion said:

Google showed this. Any luck?? 

https://books.google.com/books?id=KP1nARJ2RngC&pg=PT6&lpg=PT6&dq=young+girl+opens+walnut+to+reveal+scene&source=bl&ots=vPROBS2AUA&sig=zrGhNQdDpD7DmqgTxvT3J01g5yo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7xpueuYrfAhUK0KwKHTDsDqIQ6AEwDnoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=young girl opens walnut to reveal scene&f=false

Oh gosh,  that's a really good guess. But we've never read that book. 

I am thinking the walnut may not have been a Christmas gift. 

The other books that "feel" like they might contain this incident are one of the Green Gables/Anne books, A Secret Garden, or maybe an historical fiction. Definitely not a modern setting. 

This is proving to be quite the hunt! I thought it might be A Little Princess but dd says no. I don't have the book to check.

[HomeAgain]

I would have thought Heidi, but no?  It's been a long time since I've read it.

[J-rap]

I've read all of the Little House books and the Betsy-Tacy books (my favorite girls' series!), as well as Little Princess, Heidi, and The Secret Garden, and don't remember that scene from any of them.  I don't think it's in a book I've read.  Maybe it was a book that's a little less familiar?  Do you remember what period of time it took place in? 

[Rachel]

Kids say it’s not Caddie. 

We have read all the Little House books in the past year and I don’t remember it in there either.  I’ve tried googling without success. 

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Rachel

[katilac]

On 12/5/2018 at 9:43 PM, MercyA said:

Okay, my friend skimmed the book herself and asked her kids, and she doesn't think it is Caddie. They are reading it aloud right now and are almost done with it, and the kids don't remember anything like that.

 

There is more than one Caddie book, though. 

[Chris in VA]

It isn't Green Knowe bc I haven't read that. I know it is a very quick mention. I feel like she opens little doors on the walnut. 

[Selkie]

What about A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor? At the young girl's birthday party, guests are given favors made from walnut shells. There is an illustration of three walnuts, each with a little scene painted inside. One is a bird, one is a deer, and one is a squirrel.

[Chris in VA]

8 hours ago, Selkie said:

What about A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor? At the young girl's birthday party, guests are given favors made from walnut shells. There is an illustration of three walnuts, each with a little scene painted inside. One is a bird, one is a deer, and one is a squirrel.

Thx! Never read it so it's a no. Interesting how these  walnut items were so prominent at one time, though!

[katilac]

If you can edit your title, something like "Children's book: girl buys a walnut with a little scene inside" might catch the eye of someone who knows but hasn't opened the thread. 

[HollyB]

What the Witch Left by Ruth Chew? 

"Katy looked closer and saw that the walnuts had little doors in them that shut with tiny hinges. One shell had four little doors cut into it. They swung open to show a bride and groom standing under an arch. The doors folded down like platforms and on each stood a wedding guest, holding out his arms. The little figures were made of wire and cloth and sprinkled with gold and silver glitter. Katy looked at walnut wedding for a long time."

[Chris in VA]

18 hours ago, HollyB said:

What the Witch Left by Ruth Chew? 

"Katy looked closer and saw that the walnuts had little doors in them that shut with tiny hinges. One shell had four little doors cut into it. They swung open to show a bride and groom standing under an arch. The doors folded down like platforms and on each stood a wedding guest, holding out his arms. The little figures were made of wire and cloth and sprinkled with gold and silver glitter. Katy looked at walnut wedding for a long time."

YES!!!!!!!

Oh, THank you! This was for dd. She was asking. 

YAY!!!

[Rachel]

I’m so glad you figured it out, I’ve never read that book so I never would have guess it. 

[Chris in VA]

8 minutes ago, Rachel said:

I’m so glad you figured it out, I’ve never read that book so I never would have guess it. 

It's a really good story. Two girls discover some items in one of the girls' mom's bottom drawers. They are looking for something to use as a costume in a school Thanksgiving play (so there is that element, which may not sit with some, but I felt it was ok), and come across these items, which include a cloak of sorts--turns out to be an invisibility robe (way before Harry!). Each item does something, and they get into some scrapes, but it has a happy ending and it is really a sweet story. 

That, and No Flying in the House were absolute favorites of mine that I passed down to dd. ❤️

[happi duck]

Yay!

[Junie]

My Ruth Chew books are just a few of the items that I got rid of a long time ago and wish that I still had.

The scene described sounds familiar, so it's probably a book that I once had.

Be careful with your decluttering!

[MercyA]

👏🏼🎉📖Yay for a solved mystery! 

[SKL]

Wow, I read that book over 40 years ago and I still vaguely remembered that scene and the title, but not well enough to have put the two together.

[stephanier.1765]

I've been checking repeatedly to see if the mystery was solved. It's pretty amazing that it was. I love this board.

[Mothersweets]

So glad your mystery was solved! Ruth Chew books are usually really good and my kids enjoyed them as much as kid me did. I've never read this one and will have to look for it. 

[Innisfree]

Ruth Chew was my absolute favorite Scholastic Books author when I was a kid, but this is one I never read. Her books were such fun. Glad you were able to solve this mystery for your dd!

[BakersDozen]

YES!!! Funny, I was just telling my kids about a book I once read with the invisibility robe and the boots. There is another one where the kids swim in a puddle but for them it is a pond and salt/pepper bird shakers come to life. Time to track down Ruth Chew books and I loved as a kid...

[Chris in VA]

9 hours ago, StellaM said:

Glad you solved it.

The mystery to me is that I've never read the book, but the walnut scene is familiar to me, and to both dd's. 

I wonder if an excerpt of that chapter made it into an elementary literature book you read as an elementary student? 

[Amira]

7 hours ago, BakersDozen said:

YES!!! Funny, I was just telling my kids about a book I once read with the invisibility robe and the boots. There is another one where the kids swim in a puddle but for them it is a pond and salt/pepper bird shakers come to life. Time to track down Ruth Chew books and I loved as a kid...

I remember those too!  I just checked out some of her books from the library because of this thread. 

[Lori D.]

On 12/4/2018 at 5:24 PM, BakersDozen said:

Seeing as some of you have your brains whirling regarding a book title, here's another challenge: Children's book about a man who collects shadows. He stuffs the shadows into a room that is so full it is completely black. Ends up putting shadows back with objects.

Anyone?

 

On 12/11/2018 at 10:16 AM, Chris in VA said:

...That, and No Flying in the House were absolute favorites of mine...

BakersDozen: While I know it's not the book you're looking for, I was going to suggest The Shades by Betty Brock, author of No Flying in the House.

 

On 12/11/2018 at 10:47 AM, Junie said:

My Ruth Chew books are just a few of the items that I got rid of a long time ago and wish that I still had...Be careful with your decluttering!

No kidding! While I have not regretted most of the things I have passed on over the years, there are a few (mostly books!) that I deeply regret and have had to pay big $$$ to re-purchase. So even though grandchildren don't seem to be even a remote possibility in my future, I am NOT getting rid of my favorite books, even if they are paperbacks that are fading, because some books do NOT stay in print or are kept by the library!

ETA PS -- Hurray! I just looked on Amazon and it looks like a lot of Ruth Chew's books are being reprinted!

Edited December 12, 2018 by Lori D.

[BakersDozen]

Quote

I just looked on Amazon and it looks like a lot of Ruth Chew's books are being reprinted!

eBay has them as well. I scored an entire lot last night for my book box/collection.

I always buy books from my childhood for my adult children to have either for themselves or future children. I love when one of my older kids asks me for a specific title and I can just get it from my book box.

[Harriet Vane]

I loved this book! I had completely forgotten about it. As soon as I saw the cover the whole story came flooding back. Had to order a copy for my home immediately.