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This book sounds like one I read when i was a child (early 80's).  It was a large hardback with a pale purple cover and featured gruesome scaninavian fairytales. It had very distinct (and quite scary) illustrations  back and white "wood block" style line drawings at the top of the pages and full-page colour ones too. I remember a story about a clever cat outwitting a hideous troll,  a princess riding on the back of the 4 winds to find her missing prince and a story about a priest and a wolf. hope some of this rings a bell
G34 grettir the strong: Tales From Silver Lands, the book mentioned as having similar illustrations to the one wanted, has woodcuts by Paul Honore. Allan French did a retelling, Grettir the Strong, illustrated by Bernard Blatch and published by Bodley Head in 1961. Robert Newman did one, also called Grettir the Strong, illustrated by John Gretzer, published Crowell 1968. There are several others that don't appear to be illustrated. I couldn't find any collection of Norse or northern tales illustrated by Honore specifically.
French, Allen, The Story of Grettir the Strong, 1908. Allen French's retelling of the Saga of Grettir was first published in the US in 1908. It had a colour frontispiece, a colour vignette of Grettir on the title page, three other colour plates and three black and white plates. The colour illustrations are signed by F.I. Bennett, and dated 1908. The black and white plates are by a different illustrator, and are signed CAB and dated 1908. This edition was reprinted several times. In later printings the colour frontispiece is also used as the dust jacket illustration. The most recent printing I have seen is the twelfth printing, dated 1966. In that one the three black and white pictures by CAB are omitted entirely (they are no longer included in the list of illustrations at the front of the book). The five pictures by F.I. Bennett are retained, but are printed as black and white drawings only, except for the cover picture, which is in full colour on the dust jacket, but in black and white where it is used as the frontispiece. The British edition of Allen French's retelling of the Saga of Grettir was published in 1961, with new black and white illustrations by Bernard Blatch. I don't think it was ever reprinted, and it was sold mainly in the UK.One of these could be the book your reader is looking for.
Jones, Gwyn, Scandinavian Legends and Folk-tales, 1956, copyright. I believe this is the book that is most likely to be the one your reader remembers.
It is a collection of legends that included the story of Grettir the Strong. The illustrator is Joan Kiddell-Monroe. The book is one of an extensive series of collections of myths, legends and folk-tales for young readers published by Oxford University Press in the 1950s and 1960s. All the books were illustrated by Joan Kiddell-Monroe, but several different writers wrote the books.

Gustaf Tenggren, illustrator, The Tenggren Tell-It-Again Book. Parts of the description seem to fit so well with this one  Gustaf Tenggren is Scandinavian, my copy of this book is vibrantly illustrated, although all the drawings are in color, even the smaller ones (but before relocating it, I also thought the smaller drawings were black etchings). The main difference is that not all of the gruesome aspects are present. Falada is taken to a distant part of the stables instead of having her head whacked off and displayed...BUT the description gave me a very vivid memory of yet ANOTHER anthology. You may be remembering two different books, this one and the more gruesome one that I also have a memory of. Check out this website on Tenggren and for some other illustrators, like Kay Nielson go to this website.
I am the person who posted the original query and want to respond to the suggestions posted as possible solutions. To wit: Thanks for the suggestions, but I am sorry to say that after checking out the links you provided, neither of the illustrators you suggested is the one I am looking for.   Furthermore, it was definitely one book (not two that I might have confused) and Falada was also definitely beheaded, hung on a wall, and talking to the Goose Girl.  For what it's worth, I absolutely loved Tenggren & Nielson's work (thanks!).  I am browsing the book website on which you had found them and think it might have been John Bauer (his trolls and hags look very familiar)... Here's hoping.
Everywhere I look at books I'm trying to find answers to these stumpers!! I'm going buggy!!!! Is it possible that your book is one of those collections that has multiple illustrators?? Today I came upon The Platt & Munk Treasury of Stories for Children. It contains Goose Girl in which Falada's head is hung on the wall and he speaks. The illustrator of the story is Eulalie-- but the artwork is very different from her colored work in the Bumper Book,- rather it is simple black and white line drawings that may have a hint of the art deco to them. Other stories had other illustrators: Lois Lenski, Tasha Tudor, Margaret Hoopes,George and Doris Hauman. This particular book does not have The Pied Piper so it is probably not the one you are seeking. However, under the acknowledgements it is stated that Goose Girl comes from Famous Fairy Tales, edited by Watty Piper and illustrated by Eulalie and others- Copyright 1922,1928, 1933 by The Platt & Munk Co. Sure hope this helps! Oh! Someone has stated that Famous Fairy Tales is number 95 of the Platt& Munk Star Book Children series. For those people hunting for series of books this may be a useful bit of information!
Illustrated by Fritz Kredel. Translated by Mrs. E.V. Lucas, Lucy Crane and Marian Edwardes, Grimms' Fairy Tales. I am pretty sure this is the book you are looking for.  I have it sitting on my shelf. There are both colorful pictures and some just sketches (mine are in red and white).  The stories are pretty gruesome, including a talking severed horse head named falda.  Most of the stories include some death or dismemberment.  Some other titles, if this helps, are: The twelve Dancing Princesses, The Three Spinning Fairies, King Thrushbeard.
Marie Ponsot, Translator, The Fairy Tale Book:  A Deluxe Golden Book. (1961)  Recently rereleased in the early 2000s, I still have my orginal copy.  Battered and beaten, with the cover all but destroyed, the illustrations are as fresh and lovely as the day it was given me.
Grimm Brothers, Grimm's Fairy Tales,1929.The original copyright of this was in 1919 by the Platt & Nourse Co., Inc., Copyright 1929 is Platt & Munk Co. Inc. I think this is the same book mentioned in the original query.  It has an orange cover with a black Sleeping Beauty illustration and line drawings throughout.  The art deco look and the clogs are all there. The first story listed is Rumpel-stilts-kin and the last is Clever Grethel.  These are the gory oldies for the most part.  I have no idea who the translator is.  The last page notes that this series was published as "The Star Books for Children: Happiness on every page".  I hope that helps.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, Hansel and Gretel and Other Stories by the Brothers Grimm,1925.Your description of the illustrations reminded me of Kay Nielsen'\''s haunting style, and he seems to be from the right era. This collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales includes "The Goose Girl".

A possible is Castle of Comfort, by L. Atherton, illustrated by S. Findley, published London, Faber 1958, 153 pages. "Ten year old Nell has the happy knack of going into the past through the door leading into the flower
garden. Her home, the Castle of Comfort, then becomes the setting for various historic scenes, and is intended, with Nell herself and her family, to be a focus for each bye-story." (Junior Bookshelf Mar/58 p.64) It does
seem that the historic scenes are all loosely connected with the house, though, which this a less likely match.
G50 grandmother's garden: there is a book called Grandmother's Garden, by Hazel Cook Corcoran, published Parthenon 1961. No plot description as yet, but it seems to be fairly rare and there is no LC listing.
I started to read a book once in school called Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Time (I think) about a girl in a garden to which something magical was about to happen related to the thyme plant when the teacher consificated to book and I never got to finish it.
Edward Eager, The Time Garden, 1950s.  Someone suggested that your book might be Parsley Sage Rosemary and Time, but it probably isn't--that book takes the girl only goes back to Colonial America. In the Time Garden, though, there are 4 kids staying with an elderly woman, and they travel back in time to meet famous people from the past--Louise May Alcott and possibly Joan of Arc. It's worth looking at--paperback is still in print.
Trevor Meriol, Sun Slower, Sun Faster, 1957.  "Two modern English children go back into their countries past and live historically significant religious periods." I'm not sure if this fits- might have possibilities.

Bill Peet, The Pinkish Purplish Egg.  Probably this book, but I believe the griffin hatches FROM the egg.
If the griffin hatched FROM an egg this would be The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg - Bill Peet 1963 and still in print. Maybe Could you be getting it mixed up with Horton Hatches an Egg?

Kraus, Robert, Night-Lite Storybook, Windmill, 1975.  A long-shot:  I have two Night-Lite Calendars, both illustrated by N. M. Bodecker, which have various tiny animals (hedgehogs, rabbits, etc.) in assorted settings. The signs, lighted windows of houses, etc., in the pictures glow in the dark.  Illustrations are copyright 1972 by Bodecker for Night-Lite Library, but the only book showing on a google search is Kraus's Night-Lite Storybook (and Kraus's publishing house, Windmill, was the one that issued the calendars).

I am wracking my brains over G62 ...I absolutely *know* those pictures - I will get back to you if and when I can find my copy.
My college-age children and I all agree that the illustrations look very familiar!! I am inclined to suggest Gateway to Storyland by Watty Piper (late 50's edition) which was mine as child that I kept for my children.  It's up in the attic--I just went to check, but it's about 130 degrees up there and I didn't find it immediately and had to leave!! I'll try to check later.
Ok, it cooled off and it looks like I sent in a false lead--it is NOT A Gateway to Storyland.  I still think I KNOW those illustrations--could you tell me a little more info--what are the dimensions of the book and what was time frame you first had the book?  I looked thru all the books I have here with no luck--but there is a falling apart book of Mother Goose at my mom's that I'll check next time I'm home.
Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.  I think we had this book as children too.  Those pictures are definately familiar.  I would try Mother Goose.
Just a suggestion! I have a book called Favorite Nursery Tales that is similar to what you describe. It is smallish- 62 pages
long. It has all the stories but Three Little Kittens- but there are some poems along the way. The book is put out by Golden Books and the illustrations come from Little Golden Books. Mine is a 1970 edition. There is an edition from 1963- perhaps that resembles your long lost book.(I have never been able to pull up your pictures to see what they look like!)

Sutton, Margaret,The Haunted Attic, 1932.  I can't remember the entire plot of this Judy Bolton mystery, but this might be the one.
This is not the Haunted Attic by Margaret Sutton.
You mistakenly classed one of my stumpers as "solved". This story is not The Haunted Attic by Judy Bolton as somebody clearly stated. I have also read that story-a couple of days ago-and it is not the book that I am looking for. Can you please put it back under "unsolved"? Thanks!
Jean McKechnie, Penny Allen and the Mystery of the Haunted House, 1950.  The Allen kids discover a girl hiding in the cabin they're living in. She has been drugged and has amnesia. It turns out she was kidnapped by a man who then drugged her and tried to convice her that he was her father. The kids go in search of the girl's identity and her real father. They travel along a river in a cabin cruiser, pursued by the kidnapper and his gang. In the end she's reunited with her father.
Margaret Buffie, The Dark Garden.  Probably not the book you're looking for, but enough of the details match that it's a possibility.

I don't remember a Lemon in Charlotte's Web, but that's what I think of when I think of Fern....
Elizabeth Enright, Thimble Summer, circa 1939.  Thimble Summer is about Garnet, who lives on a farm in the Depression, and her friend Citronella (which you may be remembering as Lemon!). It includes a visit to a fair.  It was a Newbery winner and should be easily available.
Elizabeth Enright, Thimble Summer,1938.  Could it be Citronella, not Lemon? The other main character, named Garnet, has a pig, which might have led to the association with the name Fern.

Anne McCaffrey, Dragon Riders of Pern. Just a guess with the information given.
This is not out of Dragonriders of Pern. There are no black knights or glowing eyes (at least, not on the part of the humans) in said books. Also, Dragonrider books don't end in cliffhangers. There are many books like the one she describes in the young-adults section of any library or bookstore. There weren't, at the time, as many fantasy series specifically for young adults as there are now, although of course there were some! Mostly they were Tolkien ripoffs although Zilpha Snyder's Green-sky trilogy came out around the same time (the book she describes is not that, however). Since it was in paperback in the very early 80s, it may have originally come out in hardcover in the late 70s.

G84: Mystery of the Silent Friends (1963, in Solved Mysteries?) The details don't quite fit, but there are both "no-evil" monkey sculptures and very old automatic dolls on platforms. One wrote, one drew a picture of a chalet and one played a harpsichord(?) I remember begging my mother to find dolls like that. Of course, who knows if dolls like that were ever common even in the 19th century - and there I was, asking for them in the late 1970's!
Ruth Sawyer, Rollerskates, 1960s?  Rollerskates is about a ten-year old girl living in an hotel (or possibly an apartment building) with two elderly relatives.  It tells of her adventures over the course of a year, and all the unusual people she be-friends.  However, it is set in late 19th / early 20th century rather than the 1960s.
Eloise at the Plaza, children's book series.
M.B. Goffstein, Daisy Summerfield's Style.  I just reunited with this book myself!  I'm pretty sure it's the same one you are looking for.  What I remember is that somehow this girl is supposed to be going one place, but she switches luggage(?) or luggage tags with a girl named Daisy Summerfield, goes to a different place and kind of takes on a new identity.  I remember her being in nyc also, and the store with the monkeys is an art supply store.  She wants to be an artist and she buys soapstone(?) and carving tools.  She carves figures with moveable parts, and I think in the end she ends up selling them.  I also remember that in order to have this fantasy life, she has to carefully budget the money she had for whatever it was she was really supposed to be doing.  I can't remember the ending though!

G109 might be The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
Gene Stratton-Porter writes of Indiana, I think.
Cid Ricketts Sumner, Tammy series.  1950s-60s.  A possibility: Tammy Out of Time, Tammy Tell Me True,  Tammy and the Millionaire
CS Lewis, The Magicians Nephew.  Most of the things you talked about are in this story.

Lampman, Evelyn Sibley, City Under the Back Steps.  Maybe? Not exactly right but: Craig and his cousin Jill have been reduced to minute size and taken prisoner by an ant colony in punishment for stepping on one of its members. Down beneath the ground they are herded, down to the city under the back steps, where the haughty and Queen ruled with an iron hand, each of her subjects with a vital task to perform. Craig and Jill are put to work!
G117 Didn't the  princess and Curdie follow something like that through a tunnel? Or a wild guess Lampman The City Under the Back steps?
George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin, 1872.  I agree that this sounds like the story of the princess and her friend Curdie, who followed an invisible magic strand to escape the goblin'' underground lair.  Loved that book!

C.S. Lewis' Narnia series includes a title called The Silver Chair...
This is a long shot: The Silver Crown by Robert O'Brien. It was originally published around 1968.
Robert O'Brien, The Silver Crown, 1968.  I'm guessing this one rather than The Silver Chair by Lewis, because the latter is easier to find.  "Ellen awakens one morning with a mysterious silver frown on the pillow beside her. What magic powers it possesses she has not yet discovered, but the sudden changes in her life are unmistakable: her house is burned down, her family has disappeared, and a man in a dark uniform is stalking her. Can Ellen ever find her family? Can she use the power of the silver crown to thwart the powers of darkness? What diabolical force hides inside the mysterious castle in the woods?
I'm inclined to second the recommendation of The Silver Chair.  I don't recall where the children are when they get pulled into Narnia in this book, but they are sitting on a railway bench when their adventure starts in The Last Battle.  Sounds as though the requester may be combining these two titles into one.
c.s. lewis, the silver chair. i agree.  the book starts out with "jill pole" sobbing on a bench or something behind the school.  "eustace scrubb" finds her.  they run away from the mean kids at school by going to narnia, half on purpose, half-accidental.
Charnas, Suzy McKee, The Kingdom of Kevin Malone.  This is a contemporary fantasy that begins in Central Park, then moves into an odd sort of alternate setting in which teenaged Kevin is both prince and anti-hero.  Not a perfect fit for the posted description, but close enough to be a distinct possibility -- and if not, there's a small chance that Charnas' other YA trio, a trilogy beginning with THE BRONZE KING, might be the right answer.

Rainbow Brite.  Wasn't there a big toy merchandise collection of toy unicorns for little girls in the 1980s and early 90s, called Rainbow Brite?  Or was that just horses?  This sure sounds like a book based on those toys.
Thanks for the suggestion, but it was definitely not Rainbow Brite. It was an Apple Paperback book.
Coville, Bruce, Into the Land of the Unicorns: the Unicorn Chronicles Book 1.  NY Apple Scholastic 1994.  Right at the tail end of the possible period, but anyways, the right publisher and topic. "The story of a young girl destined to save a gentle land from the dangerous, evil hunters trying to destroy it." "Fantasy and mystery combine when Cara is forced to flee Earth, clutching her grandmother's amulet and carrying a message for the unicorn queen." There's a dragon and something called a Squijum.
Patricia Reilly Giff, Polk Street School series, '80's, approximate.  Emily Arrow is in the second grade at Polk Street school. Other characters are Sherri Dent, Richard "Beast" Best and Matthew. Emily has a rubber unicorn, Uni, perhaps an eraser.  Uni accompanies Emily on quite a few adventures.  I don't remember much reference to rainbows, but there is definitely a spooky book about an old house in the series, and Emily has a falling out with her best friend, Dawn, in another book.  Probably the best known books in the series are SNAGGLE DOODLES and THE BEAST IN MS. ROONEY's ROOM.  Hope this helps.

G159 This is DEAR LOVEY HART, I AM DESPERATE by Ellen Conford ~from a librarian
Ellen Conford, Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate, 1975.  Could it be the book Dear Lovey Hart, I am Desperate by Ellen Conford?  In Conford's book, the main female character, Carrie, secretly writes an advice column in her school newspaper. The description of the cover also seems familiar as well.
Ellen Conford.  I haven't read these in a while, so I'm not sure if some of the details fit, but Ellen Conford wrote Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate and its sequel We Interrupt this Semester for an Important Bulletin.  Girl writes advice column for high school newspaper and tries to impress cute guy who's also on the newspaper staff.
This is incorrect. I have this book and the character is not a girl who was overweight. "lovey heart" is also set on the east coast, in New York, not California.
Beverly Cleary, The Luckiest Girl, 1950's or 60's?  This may be the book that you are looking for.  It has to do with a girl writing for her school newspaper, and it takes place in Northern California or Oregon.  It has been a long time since I have read it.
Suzanne Rand, Ask Annie, 1982. This is one of the original "Sweet Dreams" paperback teen romance series.

Irvin S. Cobb, Faith, Hope and Charity, 1930.  Sounds very much like Faith, Hope and Charity by Irvin S. Cobb. I have this short story collected in a book called 101 Years' Entertainment: The Great Detective Stories 1841-1941, edited by Ellery Queen. I have a vague memory of this possibly having been done as a 'Twilight Zone' or similar show episode.

G162 This is a shot in the dark, but since no-one else has answered, I figured I'd try. Could it be one of the Kit Williams' books, possibly MASQUERADE? The whole book is posted online.  There was a treasure hunt involved. ~from a librarian 

I think I know this book, but of course author and title currently elude me.  The spy kid meets some girls who live in the only painted house on the island, and there is a man named Eugene who runs a sort of general store.  The medium of exchange is called krinks, and the children sing a song "Earn krinks for Eugene to drink a-drink drink.  Maybe this will trigger someone's memory that's better than mine.
Grattan, Madeleine, William Pene du Bois. Jexium Island. Viking, 1957, 1st b/w title page and chapter designs by artist 184 pp. . Drawn from memories of a childhood near the banks of the Garonne and inspired by tales of the Resistance. The heroes crack a ring of kidnappers who capture children to work on a North Atlantic island of jexium deposits. An uneven but memorable book.
Trans. from the French by Peter Grattan, Jexium Island (1957)  I am so delighted to "return the favor" someone did for me, and identify a stumper!  I am sure this is the book you are seeking.  It has black and white illustrations by William Pene du Bois, and is the story of Serge, who makes his way from France to the coast of Newfoundland to search for his kidnapped foster sister Angele.  There he finds many children who have been captured to work on an island of jexium deposits.
Grattan, Madeleine, Jexium Island (1957 approximate) Illustrated by Wiiliam Pene du Bois

Marion Conger (illus. by Eloise Wilkin), The Little Golden Holiday Book,  1951.  This is just a remote guess, depending on how definite your memories are, but your description reminded me of this book, which has Peter and Mary going through the year with the different holidays.  For Thanksgiving, Mary's grandparents come to her house and there's a picture of her watching Mother take the *pumpkin pies* out of the oven -- they are the color of gingerbread and she has baked a small one herself "for Gramps". (The stove is old-fashioned with a big copper kettle on top.)There are several pictures in the Christmas section  one is double-page and has Mary in front of the tree, looking at a creche on a small table next to the fireplace. ?? There's a short description in the Solved Mysteries section. Hope this helps...
Wilken, Elosie, Baby's Christmas.  This sounds an awful lot like Baby's Chrsitmas by Eloise Wilken, except I don't
think they go to Grandma's. I think all of the Christmas activities take place at "Baby's" home. In the original version of this book the illustrations were absolutely gorgeous!
It's NOT Baby's First Christmas (I just checked multiple editions of that one) but I do remember the book. The children are facing the creche, holding hands, with their backs to the reader. . . I think it probably is Wilkin although it could be Tasha Tudor . . . I'll find it, it's around here somewhere!
It may be the Golden book Christmas in the Country.  Betty and Bob, along with their parents, travel to visit their  grandparents in the country for Christmas. Betty strings popcorn and cranberies in the kitchen for the Christmas tree which Bob chops down in the pasture. It was published (I think) in the late 1950's the illustrations place the story around the turn of the century. The story ends with imagining the animals in the barn getting ready for Christmas.
Marcia Martin, illus. by, Waiting for Santa Claus, 1952.  A Wonder Book.  This doesn't match exactly but it's very close.  Three children, Bobby, Sally, and Baby celebrate Christmas with their parents.  There's a picture of mother taking gingerbread cookies out of the oven and a picture of Sally and Baby looking at a nativity manger under the tree. They also go shopping for ornaments, sit on Santa's lap, and pick out a tree with Daddy.  For Christmas Bobby gets a red scooter, Sally gets a doll and a sewing set, and Baby gets a 'big brown Teddy bear with black shoe-button eyes''  Grandparents come later to visit and have a big turkey dinner.  At the end the children say "Oh, we can hardly wait until next Christmas!"

G179 Not sure, but try looking at LOVE STORY, TAKE THREE by Gloria D. Miklowitz. The teen's name is Valerie, and she wants to become more independent from her overprotective mom.~from a librarian
Joan L. Nixon, Hollywood Daughters series. (1990)  The last title in this series "Encore" sounds a lot like the plot described.
Marlene Fanta Shyer, Adorable Sunday,October 1986. I'm not sure if this is the book you are looking for, but it immediately came to mind when I read your request.  I seem to remember that her trademark was a long french braid.
Mark Jonathan Harris, Confessions of a Prime Time Kid, 1985, copyright.  It's about a girl named Meg who becomes the star of a sitcom called The Kid and the Cabbie.  The mother is Darlene, which is what Meg calls her instead of Mom.  The sibling is a brother named Kelly.  The crying scene happens in an audition for a stain remover commercial.  Darlene had splurged on an expensive dress for Meg. "Thinking of how upset Darlene would be [if the dress actually got stained], I ran to the casting director, 'Mom, Mom, look at what I've done...' Suddenly I was crying, the rest of my lines lost in tears."

sigh* This has been posted quite a while and no one has a clue? Thanks anyway!
Hyman, Trina Schart, How Six Found Christmas, 1969.  Okay, this is a long shot but the description of the cover reminded me of this book. The girl is in the snowy woods and there is a fox peeking out from behind a tree.  The background is dark green.  But the girl and the animals are searching for Christmas because they have never seen one so while the anxiety is there the story doesn't sound the same.
Andre Norton, The white jade fox. I know this is the wrong colour, but the psychic elements and the atmosphere described brought this book to mind.
I am sorry to say that neither one of these is the book I am searching for, I really wish I could remember more about it, sometimes I think that something is about to surface, but is gone before it formulate's in my mind. Thank you for trying! The Search Continues!
Severn, David, Foxy-boy, illustrated by Lynton Lamb (US title The Wild Valley).  London, Bodley Head 1959.   This may be a bit early, however Severn's books do sometimes have supernatural or unsettling elements to them. "When nine-year-old Phillippa arrived to spend her holidays with her godmother at Lilliput Castle, she was disappointed to find that the other children had moved away, and the prospect of a long holiday with only Kitty and Prudence as her companions was not a very exciting thought. The two women share of the work at Lilliput Castle between them  Kitty, Philippa's godmother, worked outside, on the farm and in the garden, while Prudence enjoyed doing all the household chores, the cooking polishing and cleaning. So Phillippa was left to amuse herself, and it was during one of her solitary walks in Wild Valley that she first saw Foxy-boy. Was he a Fox or a boy? What was he doing in the Valley? And would Phillippa ever be able to get near enough to him to find out?" Hey, this might work for G54 girl with wolf friend, too!
Unfortunatly, Foxy-Boy wasn't it either. If I recall correctly, I think the girl may have become a fox in the end, but I'm not ever 405 possitive about that. Thanks for trying!

Frank Herrmann, Giant Alexander series.  One of these?
G188 It may be one of the series but it is not Herrmann The giant Alexander in America. He holds a little friend Timmy in his shirt pocket - if that helps identify the book as one of the series.

See T59 for some suggestions.
Lucy Sprague Mitchell, The Golden Book of Nursery Tales (Silly Will), 1948.  This sure sounds like "Silly Will" by Lucy Sprague Mitchell,  except it's a little boy, instead of a girl. But it does have the  same theme of ungratefulness, with the trees taking back the wood from his house, the sheep taking back their wool, the goose taking back the feathers from his pillow, etc. This story appears in The Golden Book of Nursery Tales (A Big Golden Book) published by Simon & Schuster in 1948. The illustrations are black and white, except for one full-page color picture of Will standing naked & shivering in front of where his house used to be, at night, with all the animals and the trees in the background.  Picture is in dark tones.  The story was also published in The Here and Now Story Book pub. by E.P. Dutton & Co.

Here are two to look up on the Solved Mysteries page:  George the Gentle Giant by Adelaide Holl (1960) and Arnold Lobel's  Giant John (Harper & Row, 1964).
G192  Your friend may be thinking of THE BIGGER GIANT: AN IRISH LEGEND retold by Nancy Green, illustrated by Betty Fraser, 1963, 1966. Scholastic Book Club put out a paperback version. It may also be worth looking at FIN M'COUL by Tomie DePaola but it looks like it may have been printed in 1981. If not, it may help to know that the smaller giant is Fin M'Coul (or Finn MacCoul), his clever wife's name is Oonagh, and the bigger giant is Cucillin.~from a librarian
The story is called "Fin M'Coul," and it appears in They Were Brave and Bold (Book 5 of the Wonder Story Books readers). This book also contains the stories Pecos Bill, Beowulf, The White Cat, Sinbad, The Girl Who Hunted Rabbits & others.  Cover is dark blue, w/ Pecos Bill riding Mtn Lion on front cover, old man on flying tractor on back cover.  Fin M'Coul also appears in Celtic Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs.  Hope this helps.

I keep thinking of Ghost Garden by Hilda Feil, but I've never read it, so can't say for sure.  There is a good description under "Solved Mysteries."
The book definitely isn't Ghost Garden by Hila Feil.  In the book described, the girl who befriends the hippy girl is very straight laced.  She goes to the hippy's house and the girl has an enormous room which she can skate in - but she doesn't have her parent's love.
Konigsburg, Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth.  I know that the description doesn't immediately fit, but I think this is the book you're thinking of.
This is not Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth... and Me, Elizabeth which takes place during fall and winter in a large city, probably New York. It sounds more like The Birds of Summer, but in that book the children's mother is the one who is hippie-like and they live with her.  Set in the 1980s, the novel tells the story of Summer Mclntyre, who lives with her mother. Oriole, and her sevenyear-old sister, Sparrow, in Alvarro, California. Oriole harbors romantic visions of getting back to nature and living the simple life, but she depends upon welfare to raise her family. The Mclntyres live in a wooded area in a trailer that they rent from their friends and neighbors, the Fishers. The Fishers own some greenhouses in which they grow strawberries and tomatoes to sell in town.
Mary Francis Shura, Maggie in the Middle (The Seven Stone)  I remember this book, the friend's room is painted blue with astrological signs or starts on it.  She learns about runestones from one of the friends too.
Wylly Folk St. John, The Ghost Next Door (1981, approximate)  I remember clearly the owl with "love" in its eyes.  The girl went to visit family and met the ghost of her half-sister who had drowned.  There was an owl figurine which her sister had made that solved a mystery.

Rachel Field, Polly Patchwork, ca 1928.  This might be Polly Patchwork, a short story included in The Junior Classics Volume 6,  1958 edition.  Polly is a little girl who lives with her grandmother.  They are very poor, and the grandmother makes Polly a dress out of an old patchwork quilt, telling Polly stories about family members who contributed squares to the quilt.  When Polly wears the dress to school, the kids make fun of her, but in a spelling bee Polly looks at one of the squares and gets help from an ancestor in spelling Mississippi.
Hmmm ... That sounds like it should be it, but I don't think it is. I distinctly remember "green," as in a green dress or coat.
I don't remember the title or author but the story I'm thinking of was part of a larger book like a reader.  The girl's family might have been Quaker or Amish or something like that because she says that her mother knew how to make beautiful dresses without ruffles or trim.  Another family loses their home (a fire?) and the girl volunteers to give her dress away.  Her family is surprised but she actually means to give her everyday dress so she can wear her new green one.  Her grandmother makes her fetch her new dress to give away and she grumbles to herself because her everyday dress should be good enough for that other girl.  The story had a turn-of-the-century feel like a Laura Ingalls Wilder (although it was not the Little House series).  Hope this is the story and gives a few more clues.
I remember reading a bioliography of Susan B. Anthony that describe that story.  It also had a story about her working in her father's thread mill, and seeing it as unfair that young girls work hard and their father would take their earnings.  She had gotten the job after wishing on a star for something excited to do.  Also after she gave away her new dress she actually felt happy because she didn't need to worry about keeping her new dress prefect.  It seems that I remember the bioliography as part of a nonfiction series of varies American heros, Presidents, Presidents wives or mothers.  Hope this help.
Monsell, Helen,  Susan B. Anthony : champion of women's rights.  This is the story that I was thinking of but I don't know if the dress was green.  The grandmother is the one who tells Susan B. Anthony that she can't give her old dress away.  The girl who receives the new dress just had her mother die after a long illness so the mother had not been able to take care of the family for a long time.  At the end, Susan is happy because her old dress is comfortable and she wouldn't have been able to jump across the creek if she had been wearing the new one (for fear of getting it dirty).

Carolyn Haywood, Betsy and the Circus
Make-believe daughter, 1972.  I'm not sure why this one comes to mind, but you can see a copy of it on this website.  It's about three friends, all named Matilda (except they have different nicknames), and I'm pretty sure one of them has some kind of oddball family background such as being circus performers.

That sounds so familiar... but it's not Best Loved Doll or the others I just checked....
Barbara Chapman, Santa's Footprints, 1948.  If this is the same book you people solved for me some time ago!  It sounds very similar to the short story The Wonderful Mistake.
Thanks for your suggestion, but I just looked up The Wonderful Mistake, and I'm afraid that's not it.  In the book I'm looking for, the first girl (not rich per se, just middle-class) is given a beautiful new doll, and invites her friends over so she can show it off. The poor girl is somehow invited also, though I don't think she is liked by the others. Possibly the first girl's mother made her invite the poor girl? Or maybe the girl just invited her whole class and the poor girl tagged along? Anyway, the doll disappears, and everyone assumes the poor girl stole her - which she may have done, I don't recall. The doll is later anonymously returned to its owner, but the first girl meanwhile gains some understanding of or sympathy for the poor girl. She decides (perhaps with some urging from her mother or some other relative?) to give the poor girl one of her own dolls, and selects the new one, rather than an older (but well-loved) doll. She might even have dropped the doll off anonymously for the poor girl? The story takes place during the winter time, at or shortly before Christmas. I seem to recall the first girl walking home through a light snowfall after giving away her doll.  The book itself was fairly small, I think with a blue cloth-covered binding, and the writing on the cover may have been in silver.  It was mostly text, but I think there were small line drawings on the first page of each chapter, above the text. There may have also been some larger line drawings scattered throughout the text, but I don't think there were any color pictures. (Despite the choice of keeping the old, well-loved doll, this is not The Best Loved Doll, either.) I'm almost positive that the book was a single story, not a collection of short stories. Thanks for your help!

This seems too obvious, but could it be Goodnight, Moon?  It's been years since my son and I read it, but maybe?
What a wonderful tribute to Goodnight Moon, but the words "I love you" do not appear in the book.
Thanks for the reply but unfortunately it is not Goodnight Moon.  My daughter did remember that on the page that said "goodnight mother, I love you" was the picture of a little girl in bed telling her mother goodnight.  She also remembered that it was not a "Golden Book" (it was smaller in size) or hard bound book.  Any and all input is appreciated.  Thanks.
Lynn and Mandy Wells, The Goodnight Book (1974)  The book The Goodnight book published by Tell a Tale books in 1974 by Lynn and Mandy Wells.  Starts out "Goodnight Red sun, goodnight stars, goodnight bus goodnight cars...

Just wanted to add that I think the Green Glassy of the story title, which I believe was a snow globe, had inside of it the figure of a bear. I remember being awed by the the b&w illustration of the bear inside the snow globe (I was 5 or 6 I think).  I am still hoping someone remembers this story.
Mary Grannan, Just Mary Stories.  Just Mary was a radio personality in Canada.  This book which has both the skating mice and the Bear in the Glassy is a combination of two of her books - Just Mary and Just Mary again.

Try looking at some of Joan Aiken's adult novels from the 1970's - there was one that seems similar - the girl was a musician or music teacher and there was some kind of mystery subplot.
The Greengage Summer.  I'm not sure of the author, maybe Penelope Mortimer.  I think this could be your book.

Flanders, Rebecca, Yesterday Comes Tomorrow.  Harlequin 1992.  I'm dubious about this one, but it's the closest I've found so far. "It began as a simple mystery weekend. Then the present and the past merged, and Amelia Langston was back in 1870 on the Aury Plantation with Jeffrey Craig, the prime suspect in a murder. There she discovered everything that had been missing from her life...excitement, adventure, rapture with the man of her dreams...Jeffrey. Was this a fantasy or a frightening reality?"
Thank you for your help and the attempt at a solution.  I don't believe that there was a murder and it didn't have a plantation.  It was almost from a Victorian time.  I have other details, too if it helps:  There was a nutty professor in the book who invented things.  He made a kind of washing machine and a toilet.  As the book unfolds, you learn that the professor had also come through the sundial.  He wasn't inventing things, he was re-inventing things.   In the story there were 2 brothers.  The hero was the black sheep of the family.  When the girl had gone back in time she knew some of the characters and the plot of the mystery regarding the stolen necklace.  She was very suspicious of the black sheep brother.  I really believe that the word Time was in the title.  I thought the name was A Stitch in Time.   The girl had been fired as a travel agent, but had received the invitation to a murder mystery weekend at a new B&B.  She brought her best friend.  Every other guest for the weekend had a title.  She was called the Mysterious Lady.  She thought that she was gypped.  It turns out she was playing herself in the mystery.  I come home from teaching every day and I look to see if one of your readers remembers.  I have faith in your site!  It'll happen.  My sister is sending a couple stumpers your way, too.

Elizabeth C. Spykman , Terrible, Horrible Edie. Poster doesn't say what era, but the "Edie" book series is like this. This is the onlt title I remember --which doesn't have the bike (in this one she doesn't lots of bad things including locking a hated cousin in the boathouse. I loved these books when I read them in the early 60s.

..., Gold Heart (Guld Hjerte).  I just read an interview with the director Lars von Trier who said that all of his movies are influenced by a book called Gold Heart