Happy 80th, Lorna Balian! ("Bah! Humbug?" 1977)
Lenona
Her surname rhymes with "stallion."
Many of her books were re-illustrated by her daughter Lecia Balian.
(Many readers prefer the originals.)
About "Bah! Humbug?":
"Margie writes to Santa Claus asking him for a new teddy bear since
her teddy, Herold, is looking a bit shabby. Her bossy older brother
Arthur believes that Santa Claus is a humbug and he plans to prove it
by creating a trap to catch him. But Arthur might be wrong about Santa
after all."
http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/readers/WLAC/Notable/Notable%201997.html
(includes bio - you have to scroll to the bottom)
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=lorna%20balian%20&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=vi
(covers)
Writings for Children, Self-Illustrated:
An Elephant?, 1964
Humbug Witch, Abingdon, 1965
"There once was a little witch who was a 'frightening-looking,
horrible, witchey, WITCH!' She was everything a witch should be, but
she just couldn't get her spells and potions to turn out right. What
is wrong with the little witch?"
I Love You, Mary Jane, Abingdon, 1967
The Aminal, Abingdon, 1972
"Patrick finds an 'aminal' and decides to take it home. He describes
it to Molly, who tells Calvin, who tells Freddie, and the 'aminal'
becomes more frightening with each new description. Soon, Patrick's
friends think they must save him from the giant green 'aminal'
monster!"
Sometimes It's Turkey -- Sometimes It's Feathers, Abingdon, 1973
"Mrs. Gumm finds a turkey egg and raises the turkey, which she fattens
up for Thanksgiving dinner. When the time comes, she invites the
turkey to join her for dinner instead of eating it."
Where in the World is Henry?, Bradbury, 1973
Humbug Rabbit, Abingdon, 1974
"As Grandma prepares for Easter above ground, the rabbit children in
their home below ground are convinced that their father is the Easter
Bunny! The two worlds meet happily on the Easter holiday."
The Sweet Touch, Abingdon, 1976
"A ring from a gumball machine releases a baby genie who grants Peggy
'the sweet touch.' She is overjoyed by all the candy that keeps
appearing around her, until she get a tummy ache and wants to take her
wish back."
Bah! Humbug?, Abingdon, 1977
A Sweetheart for Valentine, Abingdon, 1973
Leprechauns Never Lie, Abingdon, 1980
"Ninny Nanny and Gram are in a bad state. The thatch on their roof is
broken, the rain barrel is empty, the potatoes need digging, and all
they have to eat is rainwater soup. But Ninny Nanny is lazy and not
inclined to work. So she decides to catch a leprechaun and find out
where he has hidden his fortune! The idea is splendid, but finding the
pot of gold turns out to be much more than Ninny Nanny and Gram
bargained for!"
Mother's Mother's Day, Abingdon, 1983
"Six generations of female mice celebrate Mother's Mother's Day in a
gifty, hand-sized volume. Hazel brings a bunch of violets to her
mother, who is not home because she is delivering a gift to her own
mother, also not at home. This continues until Great-Great-Grandmother
finds an unfriendly cat instead of her own mother, sending all the
mice scurrying into hiding together."
Humbug Potion: An A-B-Cipher, Abingdon, 1984
"A homely witch is delighted to find a secret recipe for beauty but it
is written in a code that the reader must help her decipher by
learning the letters of the alphabet."
A Garden for a Groundhog, Abingdon, 1985
"During the winter, the O'Learys feast on the bounty from their summer
garden, and Groundhog hibernates in his burrow home beneath the apple
tree. The O'Learys know that the groundhog does not come forth on
February 2 to forecast the weather but rather to check if the O'Leary
garden is planted. Mr. O'Leary's plan to keep the groundhog out of
their vegetables has one flaw, though, which is humorously revealed on
the final page."
Amelia's Nine Lives, Abingdon, 1986
The Socksnatchers, Abingdon, 1988
"The Socksnatcher familiy is secretly living in the cellar of ther
Perkins family, and relies upon the Perkins' smelly socks in order to
cook their soup. But the cat has discovered their secret hiding spot!"
Wilbur's Space Machine, Holiday House, 1990
"In this story with an ecological theme, elderly Violet and Wilbur
live in the middle of beautiful countryside, surrounded by '. . .
clean, peaceful space . . . .' But, soon, their valley becomes
congested with people, houses, and cars. The focal point of
aggravation is a neighbor child named Googie, who tramples their
garden in the spring, litters it in the summer, and steals their
harvest in the fall. Wilbur decides to build a space machine to
recover the "clean, peaceful space" he loves, but the space he creates
just disappears into the air. Violet advises him to capture the space
in balloons; when she ties them to the porch railing, the house floats
up into the air, and Wilbur and Violet are once more surrounded by
space."
Lenona.