Happy 90th, Margaret J. Baker! (Carnegie runner-up: "Castaway Christmas")

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Aka Margaret Joyce Baker. The last address I have for her is Minehead,
Somerset, England.

Some covers, ordered by title:

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=%22margaret+j%22+baker&pics=on&sortby=7&x=0&y=0

About "Castaway Christmas" (1963):

"Mirand, Lincoln and their sister Pinks, are off to the rented cottage
for Christmas with their parents. But then the floods come and the
river rises. How will the three manage when the parents can't reach
them and their neighbors need help?"

"Hi-Jinks Joins the Bears" (1969):

"Polly and Frank Fiedling have a new shoe shop and a new baby
daughter. To help the bears and Hannibal with their extra work, Polly
orders a bright new nylon bear named Hi-Jinks. The bears are slow to
accept this "groovy" new bear with her books and bells and miniskirt,
but finally are charmed by her smile and good nature. And when she
helps Frank win a prize for his window display, Hi-Jinks becomes part
of the group for good. They make another new friend one day when oon a
picnic with Polly, Frank and the baby". Wagstaff is a Scottish bear
who is lucky enough to live in a castle, and he invites them all to
tea. When Wagstaff disappears, Hannibal and the bears set out to
rescue him.

"Home from the Hill" (1968):

"Separated from their parents and each other when their father becomes
ill and their mother cannot care for them, four children decide to go
on a secret search for a home where they can all be together."

WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:

The Fighting Cocks, Pitman, 1949.
Nonsense Said the Tortoise, Brockhampton Press, 1949, published as
Homer the Tortoise, Whittlesey House, 1950.

Four Farthings and a Thimble, Longmans, Green, 1950.
A Castle and Sixpence, Longmans, Green, 1951.
Benbow and the Angels, Longmans, Green, 1952.
The Family That Grew and Grew, Whittlesey House, 1952.
Homer Sees the Queen, Whittlesey House, 1953.
Lions in the Potting Shed, Brockhampton Press, 1954, published as
Lions in the Woodshed, Whittlesey House, 1955.
Anna Sewell and Black Beauty, Harrap, 1956, Longmans, Green, 1957.
Acorns and Aerials, Brockhampton Press, 1956.
The Bright High Flyer, Longmans, Green, 1957.
Homer Goes to Stratford, Prentice-Hall, 1958.

The Magic Seashell, Harrap, 1959, Holt, 1960.
The Birds of the Thimblepins, Harrap, 1960.
Homer in Orbit, Brockhampton Press, 1961.
The Cats of Honeytown, Harrap, 1962.
Away Went Galloper, Methuen, 1962, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1964.
Castaway Christmas, Methuen, 1963, Farrar, Straus, 1964.
Cut Off from Crumpets, Methuen, 1964.
The Shoe Shop Bears, Harrap, 1964, Farrar, Straus, 1965.
Homer Goes West, Brockhampton Press, 1965.
Hannibal and the Bears, Harrap, 1965, Farrar, Straus, 1966.
Porterhouse Major, Prentice-Hall, 1967.
Bears Back in Business, Farrar, Straus, 1967.
Hi-Jinks Joins the Bears, Harrap, 1968, Farrar, Straus, 1969.
Home from the Hill, Methuen, 1968, Farrar, Straus, 1969.

Teabag and the Bears, Harrap, 1970.
Snails' Place, Dent, 1970.
The Last Straw, Methuen, 1971.
Boots and the Ginger Bears, Harrap, 1972.
The Sand Bird, Thomas Nelson, 1973.
Prickets Way, Methuen, 1973.
Lock Stock and Barrel, Methuen, 1974.
Sand in Our Shoes, Methuen, 1976.

The Gift Horse, Hodder & Stoughton, 1981.
Catch As Catch Can, Hodder & Stoughton, 1983.
Beware of the Gnomes, Hodder & Stoughton, 1985.
The Waiting Room Doll, Hodder & Stoughton, 1986.
Fresh Fields for Daisy, Hodder & Stoughton, 1987.

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS

Treasure Trove, Brockhampton Press, 1952.
The Young Magicians, Brockhampton Press, 1954.
The Wonderful Wellington Boots, Brockhampton Press, 1955.

Into the Castle, Brockhampton Press, 1962.

(Contributor) The Noel Streatfield Christmas Holiday Book, Dent,
1973.

OTHER "Also author of Tip and Run, 1958. Contributor of short stories
to Christian Science Monitor, Story Parade, Jack and Jill, and Child
Life."

MEDIA ADAPTATIONS
"A Castle and Sixpence, Benbow and the Angels, and The Last Straw,
were serialized on British Broadcasting Corp. television (BBC-TV)"

Also, "Castaway Christmas" was serialized for "Jackanory."

Lenona.

[leno...@yahoo.com]

She died in January of 2010. The reason I didn't find out back then is that while most sources list her birth year as 1918, the two sources listing her death date say she was born in 1917 - and I had been searching on 1918. Maybe I should stick to searching on residence names - more often, anyway.

She lived in/near Minehead, Somerset, England.

Here's her birthday post and booklist:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/rec.arts.books.childrens/margaret$20baker/rec.arts.books.childrens/5Cz7X7ul5CY/-yKjVITKU9cJ

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F78671
(this says 1917)

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-59411-1109687
(this has the exact date in 2010)

http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/gravedetails.php?grave=580370&scrwidth=1200
(this includes her mother's name, which helps greatly - but enlarging the photo of the headstone didn't really help me see the dates, even though both women's names are there)


Lenona.