Happy 90th, Hans H. Helweg! (Danish illustrator of "The Tales of Olga da Polga")
leno...@yahoo.com
"Paddington." In Wikipedia: "Olga (a guinea pig) is a teller of tall
tales in the style of Baron Munchhausen."
Also (though I can't open this):
www.oup.com/oxed/children/fiction5to7/olgadapolga
"Olga da Polga is everyone's favourite guinea pig. She's nosy,
mischievous, boastful and permanently hungry!"
Some of Helweg's artwork:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=hans+helweg&gbv=2
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
FOR CHILDREN
Farm Animals, Random House, 1978.
Animal Babies, Collins, 1981.
Caring for Your Pet, Collins, 1981.
Dogs and Puppies, Collins, 1981.
Animals on the Farm, Collins, 1981.
ILLUSTRATOR OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS
A. N. Bedford (pseudonym of Jane Werner Watson) Roy Rogers and the New
Cowboy, Simon & Schuster, 1953.
Eric M. Knight, Lassie Come-Home, abridged edition by Felix Sutton,
Grosset, 1954.
Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel L. Clemens) The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer, abridged edition by Anne Terry White, Simon & Schuster, 1956.
Frank Sayers, Cowboys, Simon & Schuster, 1956.
M. A. Jagendorf and C. H. Tillhagen, The Gypsies' Fiddle, and Other
Gypsy Tales, Vanguard, 1956.
Borghild M. Dahl, The Daughter, Dutton, 1956.
John M. Schealer, Zip-Zip and His Flying Saucer, Dutton, 1956.
Philip D. Jordan, Fiddlefoot Jones of the North Woods, Vanguard,
1957.
Borghild M. Dahl, The Cloud Shoes, Dutton, 1957.
John M. Schealer, Zip-Zip Goes to Venus, Dutton, 1958.
Bryna Untermeyer and Louis Untermeyer, editors, Unfamiliar Marvels,
Golden Press, 1962.
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, Golden Press, 1969.
Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes, Golden Press,
1970.
L. A. Hill, The Old Woman and Her Pig, Oxford University Press, 1971.
Michael Bond, The Tales of Olga da Polga, Penguin, 1971, reprinted as
Olga da Polga, Volume I: Olga Makes a Wish, Volume II: Olga's New
Home, Volume III: Olga Counts Her Blessings, Volume IV: Olga Makes Her
Mark, Volume V: Olga Takes a Bite, Volume VI: Olga's Second House,
Volume VII: Olga Makes a Friend, Volume VII: Olga's Special Day,
Puffin, 1975, published in the United States as separate volumes, EMC
Corp., 1977, reprinted as The First Olga da Polga Book, Longman, 1983,
and The Second Big Olga da Polga Book, Longman, 1983.
Olga Meets Her Match, Longman Young Books, 1973, Hastings House,
1975.
Ann Lawrence, The Travels of Oggy, Gollancz, 1973.
Olga Carries On, Kestrel Books, 1976, Hastings House, 1977.
Ann Lawrence, Oggy at Home, Gollancz, 1977.
Ann Lawrence, Oggy and the Holiday, Gollancz, 1979.
Olga Takes Charge, Kestrel Books, 1982.
The Complete Adventures of Olga da Polga (contains The Tales of Olga
da Polga, Olga Meets Her Match, Olga Carries On, and Olga Takes
Charge), Delacorte, 1983.*
Lenona.
leno...@yahoo.com
I hadn't noticed that one at first glance. The subtitle (there's more
than one, depending on the edition) is "How We Got Skis." You can see
one edition of that here - you have to scroll to the bottom:
http://www.oxcartproductions.com/
The one I remember had a different cover that showed the king on skis
jumping overhead. It has 60 pages. I remember it as a funny fairy tale
with plenty of realism to it - there's a serious food shortage in a
Scandinavian kingdom and an elf comes to the king promising to help
out - if he'll give up his son. (When the elf first arrives, he
magically lights up the palace because there's a candle shortage as
well and the king is doing his part to save on supplies.) The king is
given "magic" shoes - skis, of course - and the king has to learn to
use them and come up with the idea of making ski poles as well. He
manages to bring back loads of wheat - in that case, magic IS
involved, since he has no other means of carrying them - and as it
turns out, his son comes back, as the elf always intended. The elf
also sends a pair of skis for everyone, but the children, bolder than
their parents, learn how to use them first. The story ends with the
king, his wife and son deciding what to call the "magic shoes."
Lenona.