I think there are enough literary folks in my age group on this site for me to ask - Do you remember and could you give me the info for these two books? My mother gave me these books when I was just a kid, in the 1950's, and I can't find them on Google or in the bookstores.
I remember one title - The Land of Green Ginger, about an enchanted island that floated in the air, and was invisible until it came when it was called. I remember the name because that was part of the incantation to get the island to appear. This might have been a short story, and was probably Asian in tone.
And the next, I only remember the storyline. It was about a little girl who moved to stay with a older relative in the city (Chicago? New York?). She explored the streets on her own and met a boy her age who was homeless (which makes me think this was set in the Depression). I remember he cooked potatoes by whirling them around in a can (held by a string) with a hot coal. Cool, eh?
She and the homeless kid met an older man? who had a puppet stage? and they put on puppet plays together, including The Tempest. This was my first introduction to Shakespeare and I seem to recall the entire play, in kid's language, in the book. I must have been 8 or so.
I had always thought that this was one of the Shoes books, which my Mom also got me, thinking maybe, Theatre Shoes? It was mentioned in the movie, You've Got Mail. Meg Ryan gives the author's name as Noel Streatfield, and I looked up each book of hers I could find and none were the one I was looking for.
Why am I worrying over this - I don't know. Maybe to give the books to my nieces, but maybe just to connect with my childhood, which I am forgetting more and more each year.
Anyway, thanks for your help.
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I will try to think, like that will help anything.
Suzy- dumb I am too! I just can't remember these! Post your forgotten book here too - maybe we can get some answers.
"But I do remember something about a family of children, including two young babies, stranded on a desert island. Sort of a Bobsey Twins/Robinson Crusoe combo?"
That wasn't meant to suggest we were talking about the same book, because clearly we're not! I meant, I remember a book from my own childhood, but have been unable to even locate the title to let me know I didn't hallucinate the entire thing, so I feel your pain.
Cheerfully rated. Thank you.
I looked several times but it was last year. I wonder if they re-published it. Thanks!! (I feel dumb that I didn't google it before I posted.
The other book without a title, I'm still not sure of. My memory is faulty on the plot points.
The Land of Green Ginger
by Noel Langley
illustrated by Edward Ardizzone
This beloved classic is a funny, clever, and original novel that opens with Aladdin - now Emperor of China - trying to decide what to name his son, a child who won't stop talking and is already far too articulate for his own good. The Genie of the Lamp announces that Abu Ali should be the child's name and that his destiny is to rescue the magician who created the Land of Green Ginger - a sort of fabulous floating garden - and then turned himself into a Button-Nosed Tortoise by mistake. Abu Ali is told he is the only one who can find the peripatetic island, locate the Button-Nosed Tortoise, and reverse the spell. And so begins a series of adventures that invoke a memorable cast of characters, some despicable, some feckless, and some (no surprise) beautiful and feisty.
It's all here - Flying Carpets, Green Dragons, Magic Phoenix Birds, Boomalakka Wee, the dysfunctional infant son of the Genie of the Lamp, the displaced mouse who was supposed to have been a donkey, even Omar Khayyam himself. It all adds up to a fantastical tale of adventure and mayhem, fabricated by the screenwriter of The Wizard of Oz and illustrated by the inimitable and beloved Edward Ardizzone.
Baby Island. Found on Amazon:
Product Description
When a ferocious storm hits their ship, young Mary and Jean become stranded on a deserted island. They're not the only survivors; with them are four babies. Immediately the sisters set out to make the island a home for themselves and the little ones. A classic tale of courage and dedication from a Newbery Medalist author.
Thanks for the memory jog!
Dear Leslie,
One of our graduate student reference assistants thinks she has tracked the answer down:
Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer.
This was the winner of the 1937 Newbery Award (for most distinguished contribution to American Literature for children in the preceding year)..
It's about a girl named Lucinda spending a year with her aunt and uncle in New York City. Her uncle is, indeed, reading her "The Tempest" (one chapter is titled "Mr. William Shakespeare.) And yes, there's a potato scene with a boy named Tony, son of the fruit stand vendor.
Because this is a Newbery winner, it should be very easy to locate at a library and is also still in print.
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
I am 2 for 2!!! Thanks OS - Mumbletypeg and Marty in particular!