SOLVED. Juvenile? Philosophical Fantasy story. Two+ creatures of very differing species sail down a river or estuary discovering much about themselves & life in general. Lights of village seen from water at night. Read in late 1950s. [s]

[Dave]

A little embarrassed how little I remember about this story! I read it as a child in the late 1950s and recall being charmed by its gentle philosophy and emotional truth. Two creatures (or possibly more) of very differing species sail down a river or estuary discovering much about themselves and, er, life in general. One image sticks - the lights of a village seen from the water at night. That's it, I'm afraid, not much to go on but you never know ...

[Aleksander]

Was it a picture book, middle grade, or YA? And do you remember anything about what the cover looked like?

[Kris]

Please note - you need to plot details to the header/ topic title. You can copy and paste from what you've already written. Use the small "edit" link after the header. We have thousands of requests, so threads with vague headers are closed.

[Hannah]

It's not the Wind in the Willows is it? I read that as a child and have a vague memory of small creatures boating down a river.

[Dave]

Kris wrote: "Please note - you need to plot details to the header/ topic title. You can copy and paste from what you've already written. Use the small "edit" link after the header. We have thousands of requests..."

OK, thanks - DK

[Dave]

Aleksander wrote: "Was it a picture book, middle grade, or YA? And do you remember anything about what the cover looked like?"

Not even sure if it was a kid's book. Just the one remembered image, probably internal and no pictures.

[Dave]

Hannah wrote: "It's not the Wind in the Willows is it? I read that as a child and have a vague memory of small creatures boating down a river."

Thanks Hannah, great book but not the one

[Dave]

Kris wrote: "Please note - you need to plot details to the header/ topic title. You can copy and paste from what you've already written. Use the small "edit" link after the header. We have thousands of requests..."

Have looked, Kris, but can't work out where the header/topic title is and don't know what else to put in it when I find it!

[Kris]

Dave, I added some details to the header/ topic title (top of the page) by clicking the small "edit" link after the header. This only works on the full Desktop website - not the Mobile website or app. (If you're using the Mobile website, click the "Desktop version" link at the bottom of the page.)

Are there humans in the story? Can you describe the creatures (e.g., are they common animals or fantastical creatures)? What type of boat?

What's the story's location or time period? Is this a fantasy world?

[Dave]

Kris wrote: "Dave, I added some details to the header/ topic title (top of the page) by clicking the small "edit" link after the header. This only works on the full Desktop website - not the Mobile website or a..."

Thanks, Kris, appreciate that! Can't remember humans, though the creatures may have met some. They were of very different species, I think, something like a crustacean and a bear! The world was ours - the boat may have been small.

[Florence]

Is it possibly one of the chronicles of narnia?

[Dave]

Florence wrote: "Is it possibly one of the chronicles of narnia?"

Good suggestion, thanks, but didn't read any of those till the early 1960s

[Rainbowheart]

High Water at Catfish Bend or one of the sequels?

It was first pubbed in 1952.

[Dave]

Rainbowheart wrote: "High Water at Catfish Bend or one of the sequels?

It was first pubbed in 1952."

Just read an extract- don't think it's the one, mine more British I think - but this sounds fun so will seek it out anyway!

[Dave]

My thanks for the suggestions so far, although the story's identity remains elusive. I really wish there was more detail to add but the mists of time - 60+ years since I read it! - have well and truly descended. I do recall it as a haunting, unusual, even magical tale - more spiritual or dreamlike than anything else I'd read before - and now find myself wondering if the author was a philosopher, rather than an established fiction-writer, and the story some kind of moral fable.

[Lynn]

I wondered if A Bear Called Paddington might have travelled on a boat with another creature? He's the only bear that I associate with being in Britain.

I also wondered about it being one of the Just So Stories or Aesop's Fables.

Your description reminded me of a combination of The Wind in the Willows and Three Men in a Boat but I know that you've ruled out the first and the second has one too many river travellers and, of course, they are all human.

Good luck with your search, maybe something else will come back to you.

[Jaye]

The Owl and the Pussycat ?


There have been many versions illustrating this
over the years.
I believe i had to memorize this in grade school...which would have been the 1950s.

[Dave]

Lynn wrote: "I wondered if A Bear Called Paddington might have travelled on a boat with another creature? He's the only bear that I associate with being in Britain.

I also wondered about it being..."

Paddington first appeared in 1958, so would fit my timeline, though it isn't the book I'm seeking. Same applies to Kipling, Aesop, Grahame and Jerome. But thanks for your thoughtful comments, Lynn.

[Dave]

Jaye wrote: "The Owl and the Pussycat ?


There have been many versions illustrating this
over the years.
I believe i had to memorize this in grade schoo..."

Not my book, I'm afraid, though a delightful and whimsical poem!

[Dave]

Much head-scratching about this mysterious lost book - about which I feel so powerfully but recall so little - has uncovered little new information. This despite the prompts from several kind readers. I seem to recall the story was infused with a sense of nostalgia, perhaps even regret, while struggling through to a hard-won hopefulness for the future. Were the characters outsiders or even exiles seeking some kind of new life?

[Hannah]

Hi Dave, I just came across this series, and thought that some of the plots (at least from the Goodreads descriptions) and maybe the creatures might match your book. https://www.goodreads.com/series/5069...

[Rainbowheart]

The Moomins and the Great Flood for the link to the first book in Hannah's suggested series.

[Dave]

Hannah wrote: "Hi Dave, I just came across this series, and thought that some of the plots (at least from the Goodreads descriptions) and maybe the creatures might match your book. https://www.goodreads.com/serie..."

Not the Moomins, Hannah, but could have been - thanks!

[Dave]

Rainbowheart wrote: "The Moomins and the Great Flood for the link to the first book in Hannah's suggested series."

Great books though not mine, alas!

[Emily]

The Voyage of QV66, by Penelope Lively? I read this as a child (in the 1980s) so can't remember much about it, but did involve animals in a boat.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

But published in 1978, so probably not!

[Dave]

Sounds a great book, Emily, though as you say not my one! Wonder if Penelope Lively got the idea by reading it?

[bookel]

Wide River by Hogner?
Library Journal - Volume 79 - Page 1905books.google.com.au › books
1954 · ‎Snippet view
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 1905
In Wide River Little Chipmunk and other small animals , ride on a log down the wide river to Big Stump lot . Nils Hogner has included lovely pictures of Little Chipmunk , Mr. Deer Mouse , Grampa Chuck , and Cousin Groundhog .
https://archive.org/details/wideriver...
I haven't looked at it but it's there to borrow.

https://archive.org/search.php?query=...

[bookel]

My father's dragon.
Author: Ruth Stiles Gannett
Publisher: New York : Scholastic Inc., ©1948.
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
A young boy determines to rescue a poor baby dragon who is being used by a group of lazy wild animals to ferry them across the river on Wild Island.
https://americanliterature.com/author...

[bookel]

The golden forest : the story of Oonah the platypus
Author: Michael Noonan; Douglas Albion
Publisher: Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1947
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : English
Summary:
Fantasy story about incredible life and achievements of Australian animals in the "golden forest" after winter was gone. Adventures of little platypus Oonah who lived in quiet River Oak Ledge.

[Dave]

Re. Wide River by Hogner - Thanks for the suggestion, right theme and publication date, looked it up and found it a well-written story aimed at young children though a little more twee than the one I'm looking for, which has a more adult depth.

[bookel]

Elleston Trevor
https://www.librarything.com/author/t...
wrote some animal fantasy series.

[bookel]

The Magic Pudding
The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie ...
but I'm not recalling details.

[Dave]

bookel wrote: "My father's dragon.
Author: Ruth Stiles Gannett
Publisher: New York : Scholastic Inc., ©1948.
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summar..."

I may not have found my lost story - and sadly this isn't it - but have encountered some great tales along the way. This is a lovely little moral fable, well told and beautifully illustrated. Thanks.

[Dave]

bookel wrote: "The golden forest : the story of Oonah the platypus
Author: Michael Noonan; Douglas Albion
Publisher: Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1947
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : ..."

Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't been able to view any extracts from this book and would welcome any links to it.

[bookel]

The golden forest, frontispiece picture on this page. If not familiar, not it. https://www.biblio.com/book/golden-fo...

[Dave]

bookel wrote: "The golden forest, frontispiece picture on this page. If not familiar, not it. https://www.biblio.com/book/golden-fo..."

Thanks for link - very distinctive illustration which I would have remembered, so not my book.

[Dave]

bookel wrote: "Elleston Trevor
https://www.librarything.com/author/t...
wrote some animal fantasy series."

Just had a look at these - new to me and delightful - though a little more jaunty and upbeat than the rather solemn, even sad tone of my half-recalled book. But thanks anyway!

[Dave]

bookel wrote: "The Magic Pudding
The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie ...
but I'm not recalling details."

Again, a little more sentimental than the one I'm looking for, but thank you for the suggestion. Only wish I could remember more about it but I think what attracted me to it was the plaintive, rather serious tone of the writing. More like an adult fable than a story aimed at children, perhaps?

[Rainbowheart]

Brim's Boat?

But 1964 is probably too late.

[Molly]

Long shot—The Secret River? There is a girl, but she meets several creatures along the way...fish, an owl, a bear, and a panther. Looks like there are several different editions.

[Dave]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Brim's Boat?

But 1964 is probably too late."

Too recent, yes, but thanks for the suggestion - another charming animal tale.

[Dave]

Molly wrote: "Long shot—The Secret River? There is a girl, but she meets several creatures along the way...fish, an owl, a bear, and a panther. Looks like there are several different editions."

Looked this up on Amazon and reckon it's too human-oriented to be my book, which explored animal perspectives more. The Amazon edition beautifully illustrated, though, so thanks for the heads up!

[Capn]

Just a recap (with trackable links) of books already ruled out:
The Wind in the Willows
The Voyage of QV66
The Chronicles of Narnia
My Father's Dragon
plus a few not on GR.

I was going to offer The Squirrel, the Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit or another Alison Uttley book, but this sounds too juvenile/twee.

So a crustacean and bear (possibly).... If a crab and a bear, there are constellations that match those creatures - any memory of astronomy being involved? :)

[Dave]

Capn wrote: "Just a recap (with trackable links) of books already ruled out:
The Wind in the Willows
The Voyage of QV66
The Chronicles of Narnia
[book:My Father's Dragon|..."

Thank you very much for this helpful and business-like response! Have just checked the Uttley story you mentioned - 1920s, so plausibly my book - but, as you say, a little 'young' to be the one.

Your comment about the constellations caught my attention. No memory of astronomy occurs but you've got me wondering if my story could have been some kind of myth or creation tale, perhaps retold with children in mind?

Thanks again!

[Capn]

My pleasure! I will keep a sharp eye out for other contenders! :)

[Len]

There are two books by Richard Parker (a British author) which are about groups of animals travelling together and published around the right period.

The Penguin Goes Home, Chatto & Windus, 1951
Escape from the Zoo, Sylvan Press, 1945

The first is probably unlikely as it involves the animals going to the South Pole and back, the other may be a possibility.

[Jon]

Could it be The Lobster Books?

A friendship between a lobster, a badger and a bear.

[Jon]

Recently reprinted too.



That one has the boat on the cover.

[Florence]

Regarding the creation myth stories, could be worth looking into the Chinese zodiac also, there’s a race across a river by all kinds of different animals

[Dave]

Jon wrote: "

Recently reprinted too.



That one has the boat on the cover."

This suggestion is the most promising lead I've yet received. The publication date would fit and the characters/plot sound very promising. I've just read an extract on Amazon and the style - quite old-fashioned (though not patronising) with echoes of Kenneth Grahame and Lewis Carroll - is just about right. - I'd need to read the rest to be sure - I may only have read the second book, for example - but the edition I've just sent for has the whole lot in, so no worries there!

All in all, it's looking pretty promising. Even if it's not my book, it looks a good one, but I'm more hopeful than that. Either way, will certainly let you know. Thanks again, Jon!