What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

This was a collection of short stories that were in a book that I read as a kid, wwaayyy back in the late 60's or early 70's. I only remember a couple of the stories, so I'll tell about the 2 that I remember.

One story deals with a family--MomMom, DadDad and PonyPony (or something similar, each of the names of the three main characters was a double name like that.) They live on a farm at the start of the story, and one day the daughter (PonyPony) finds a shoe buckle in the field. They take this as an omen that something is going to happen. They have been raising popcorn, and the next day as a result of something weird--sunspots, fire, lasers, something--all the corn in the field suddenly starts to pop. They are forced to move away and travel around for a while. Then, suddenly, the daughter finds the match to the shoe buckle that had signaled the first change. So they go home and find that all the popcorn has finally blown away and they can live in their house (which had been buried under the popcorn) again and can start farming their fields again

The other one is an "end of the rainbow" type story. Only instead of a pot of gold, its if the rainbow starts in a thorn bush and ends in a marsh bird's nest (or something similar) then scarecrows receive the ability to walk and talk. This happens, and we follow the adventures of one scarecrow as he starts exploring the world around him for the first time.

The first story is "The Huckabuck Family", by Carl Sandburg, excerpted from his Rootabaga Stories. I know that it was included in a collection of stories called "Caravan of Fun", which was volume four in the "The Children's Hour" series of books. I don't know if your other story is included in this volume, but here's a link to a list of contents, I don't know if it's complete:
http://71.6.33.69/FullDisp?itemid=000...
Many of these stories are middle school level.

I've also discovered that The Huckabuck Family was included in a popular anthology called "The Giant Book of Nursery Tales", edited by Elsa Jane Warner, illustrated by Tibor Gergely, 1948. This is a larger format book, and includes a story called The Little Scarecrow, but I don't know if its the scarecrow story you remember. Sorry, I realize this isn't a middle school level anthology, but I hope this gives you a start, anyway.

Ok, I checked the Rootabaga stories book, and it doesn't have the Huckabuck Family story in it. I'll have to keep checking to see if I can find it. Haven't been able to find either of the other 2. I'll keep looking.

OK, the Huckabuck family story is in the sequel, More Rootabaga Stories. There is a table of contents here:
http://www.ecampus.com/more-rootabaga...

well, after looking all over, I finally found a paperback copy of the More Rootabaga STories book. I'll read it and see what all it has in it. And going by the TITLES, it seems that this should have at least my first story in it.

Now, anyone have any ideas on that second story?

Ok, the Huckabuck story in More Rootabaga Stories IS the first story (the double named family with the popcorn)

Anyone have any idea on the second one? I didn't think to mention that where the rainbow starts and ends was very central to the start of the story. And was almost treated as one of those "old country sayings" type things.

Bump

Think I might have a lead on the 2nd one. In Google Books, found reference to a story about Tatterjack in a reading series book.

Snippet:
UNIT VI The End of the Rainbow Introduction This final unit contains only one story — the legend of Tatterjack, the scarecrow who came alive for a day when the rainbow stretched from a thorn bush to the wild swan's nest...

Link on Google Books:
Sheldon basic reading series, Book 2

From there, there is a possible "The Story of Tatterjack" by Gregor Ian Smith. Here's a link to a page that shows the cover:
http://childrensbookshop.com/book.php...

Ok, Rebecca this COULD be it. There's only one listed for sale that I can find--so I sent off an inquiry to the person selling it.

And it was definately in a reading collection that I found the story. So, I'll cross my fingers and hope that I hear back from the present owner.

Ann, Hopefully, it's the book. Please return and let us know when you know for sure.

Didn't get any answer from the person who had it for sale. And haven't been able to find another copy, so, here's a bump for this one

bump

Still can't find a copy of the suggested book for the second story. So, I'm bumping this again

I hope it's ok how I adjusted your thread title.

Is it the anthology you want, or just a story of Tatterjack?

https://www.abebooks.com/Story-Carava...

I was actually hoping for the anthology. I just remember that I had loved all the stories in the book, even tho that was the only one that I could remember in enough detail to write about.

And I still haven't found a copy of the suggested reading series book (altho I have it wishlisted in Amazon and Paperbackswap)

I found a book at uk amazon: The Story of Tatterjack by Gregor Ian Smith. It's 32 pages.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Story-Tat...

Except that they don't have a copy either. :o( If I have to (and can even FIND a copy) I'll just buy the Tatterjack story. But again, not available. But I do have those wish lists out there, and, well, someday . . .

Powell's and Alibris also maintain wishlists....

You can read the Story Caravan book through OpenLibrary. http://openlibrary.org/books/OL249556...

You'll have to sign up/log in. Once you make an account with OpenLibrary you can borrow a digital copy and read it online. The story of Tatterjack is the last story in the book. It sounds like the story you are looking for.

I just read a story perhaps inspired by Tatterjack. Doesn't fit the query at all, but it might interest some of you in this thread. Nice little picturebook.

Tattercoats, by Bernadette Watts

Bump again. And Tatterjack IS my missing story. But I want the whole book. While this is the only one I remember enough to describe accurately, I remember loving all the stories in the book. So I will go on trying. . .

Bump

Just found this thread whilst searching for something else.
I remember well a large hard backed book called TATTERJACK, in which the scarecrow character comes to life. We had it in the family in the late 40's/early fifties. The front cover was highly coloured, and I'm sure I recall a picture of the scarecrow travelling on a bus, with various other 'countryside' characters - farmer's wife with a basket of eggs, shepherd with sheepdog etc.
I have searched online a few times for a copy of this book, but without success. I remember reading it many times as a child. I was born in 1942, so would have been 8-10 at the time. I wanted it for my grandchildren when they were young, but it's a bit late for that now as they are teenagers.

Seadog--yes, that's the story that I've described here--but I want the whole book it was in. That's the only story that I definitely remember from the book, but it was a collection and was, I believe meant as a "school book" type collection. I remember enjoying all the stories, and just want the book because, well, I want it. In the meantime, I've been looking for a copy of just the Tatterjack story that doesn't cost an arm and 2 legs, and sooner or later will find one.

Bump

bump

Bump (and still no copy of tatterjack that doesn't cost an arm and a leg)

bump

bump

Tatterjack bump

I think, since we've identified the story that I remembered from this book that I'm just going to call it Solved.

I'm thinking about calling this one. We've found 2 of the stories (even if they aren't in the same book) and, since they were the 2 stories I remembered, I'm just going to mark this one Solved and not put a book into the bookshelf.