Favorite Childhood Book(s)

I read so much as a child, it's hard to say I had a favorite. The first books I owned were from a horse book club - Misty of Chincoteague, etc. I need to see if Mom still has them and if Meagan would be interested.

I read Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys checked out of the school library. Also, a series of biographies written for grade-schoolers. I remember reading about Dolly Madison (First Lady,) Luther Burbank (Plant Wizard,) Daisy Lowe (founder of Girl Scouts,) and Clara Barton (founder of the American Red Cross.) I still read a great deal of mystery and history.

I read my first fantasy novels in elementary school - it's an easy shift from fairy tales to tales about the Fair Folk. And in junior high I followed several friends through the school library there. The check-out cards with our names were always in the front of the books. If Clare, and Kathy, and Winnie had read them (especially if they read them more than once!) I knew I had a winner. I discovered JRR Tolkein, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, and Andre Norton there. I still read Tolkien and Norton, and I'm giving my sister's kids Cooper and Alexander (and reading them again myself when I visit!)

The two books that stand out, though, are two that I can't find. Or rather, one I still can't find and one I finally did. The one I found at long last was a children's picture book Mom brought home from the county library once when she was helping the school librarian with reading hour. It was about a dog who thought he was too plain and ordinary, so he started to wish he had the neck of a giraffe and the trunk of an elephant, etc. And when he got his wish, he got chased away from the house and ended up in the circus. He finally managed to wish himself back to normal and got home to his boy. The other book is one that belonged to my mom. It had four fairy tales in it and the most gorgeous illustrations. The stories were Cinderella, a Chinese tale about a couple who wished for a baby and got a moon princess, Rose Red and Snow White, and one about Roland. I can even remember the verse from the Roland story:

Withershins left, withershins right,
Withershins open Dark Castle tonight.
Sun in the East, Moon in the West,
Open the door for Roland the Guest.

The book was probably published in the late 40s or early 50s. I can't imagine that Mom gave it away, but I haven't found it in my stuff, or Kelly's, or at Mom's.