Please help ID children's book: Gingerbread stars

Cafe Society
1

I just came from dinner with a friend who described a children’s book that she has been searching for. What she can remember is gingerbread stars, who get carried up a ladder to the sky by a woman wearing boots. The book belonged to her grandmother, so it was likely published in the first half of the 20th century. Ring any bells? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

2

I’m like 99% certain that this was a scene from one of P.L. Traver’s Mary Poppins books.

Fenris

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Thanks, Fenris! P.L. Travers did write a Mary Poppins book titled The Gingerbread Shop, originally published in 1934 and re-released in 1952. I ran across it while searching for what my friend described, but there was no way of telling that it was the book that my friend was looking for. I’ll pick up a copy.

4

If Fenris’ suggestion isn’t the one you might try this: Stump the Bookseller

My sister and I have used it to locate three books from our childhood that we could not remember titles or authors to. I even answered someone’s question.

5

Thanks, Baker, what a great site. I am bookmarking it.

I just ordered a copy of the Mary Poppins book, so I ought to know in a few days whether we have a winner. If not, I’ll try that site.

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As an aside, while the booy you ordered may be the correct one, it’s not the book I was thinking of. There were four (?) Mary Poppins books, each filled with about 6-8 short stories (each chapter, excluding the first and last) was pretty well able to stand on it’s own…not technically a short story, but…) In one of those books was the short story in question. It may have been published on it’s own as well, though.

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:: Worships Baker ::

Thank you for the link! I’ve been looking everywhere for a kid’s book my mom had. Only about 150 pages survive (and they’re from the middle of the book: no cover, title page, etc. ) and within a few minutes on that site, I was able to figure it out. (She wants to read it to her grandkids)

This is gonna be a great mother’s day present. :slight_smile:

(Bizarre book too: it’s a collection of short stories, all of which are just (unintentionally) damned weird. One of the stories is this bizarre mishmash of pagan/wiccan(sort of) and Christian theology: Young Mother Nature, as a little girl, petitions the Christ Child to allow her to create the Earth (or something…I just barely remember it myself). We’re Jewish and my grandparents were pretty concerned about not adding to the already heavy cultural pressure (in the '40s/'50s) on my mom and her siblings from Christian sources (they were the only Jews in the town where they lived), so we have no idea how she ended up with it. )

Fenris

8

I just spent a little more time at the “Stump the Bookseller” site that Baker recommended, and found a query basically the same as mine in the OP. Fenris, it looks like the book that I ordered based on your post is probably the right one.

Thanks again!

9

We have a winner! The book arrived today. Thanks again, Fenris and Baker.