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

Nope. Thanks though~! It is a simply illustrated book, small, and the images look like they're almost divided by a line in the contrast between clean and messy.

Jo, are you still looking for this book?

Yes! Do you have any information? :)

No. Just some more questions - what year approximately would it have been published? If you have no idea, what year did you read it? Do you remember what the cover looked like? What style were the illustrations done in? Were the illustrations bright and colorful, or muted, or black line drawings?

I read it when I was around 10 years old in 1981. If I remember correctly the drawings were essentially black line drawings, slightly whimsical the way they seem detailed but aren't really, just fine lines. I get the impression of watercolor-esque coloring. The illustrations didn't fill the whole page... white pages with these little messy/neat tableaus.

http://goingonabookhunt.com/category/...

The Big Sister, Little Sister book is similar but the colors in my book were more pastels and I get the feeling there wasn't full color in each illustration, just bits and pieces. The illustrations weren't angled, as in the Big Sister Little Sister examples, but straight on so you could see the sharp difference between the messy sister and the tidy sister.

Thanks for your interest and your help! :o]

You may want to mention what books you have eliminated so far (re: abebooks BookSleuth post).

NOT
Big Sister, Little Sister
The Big Tidy-Up

Which are the two main books people suggest.

Would this have been published in America, Britain, somewhere else? Sometimes it makes a difference, e.g. an Australian children's book might not make it to a U.S. publisher.

I have no idea. I'd considered that but was unsure how to even start investigating foreign publishers.

I knew I saw this at one point on abes booksleuth and just went and found the post.

The Bedspread by Sylvia Fair by Sylvia Fair The Bedspread

Here's the post from abe

http://forums.abebooks.com/discussion...

I am not sure I'll ever find this book. That isn't it either. This book I think is intended to show how different these two sisters are. The illustrations show them in a bathtub, for example, on the clean sister's side everything is neat and tidy and the water is where it's supposed to be. On the messy sister's side it is chaos, water everywhere, rug bunched up, bubbles everywhere... it shows that even some of her mess is drifting over to the clean side [ probably hinting at how messy people affect those around them ].

I may have to resort to doing image searches for those more memorable illustrations. It's worth a shot!

Thank you!

Go to Amazon and look up

Judith Viorst's book "Super Completely and Totally the Messiest." Click where it says LOOK INSIDE and you can see some of the illustrations in the book.

Is that the book you're looking for?

No that's not it but it's close. Imagine simpler drawings, still obviously messy, but divided visually down the middle with the tidy sister on the other side.

I really appreciate everyone's interest and efforts, it may simply be a book that's really obscure. Again, thank you!

Who's mess is this? by Carol Roth

Carol Roth isn't listed as having written a book by that title Stephanie. The closest that I could find from her was Ten Dirty Pigs/Ten Clean Pigs: An Upside-Down, Turn-Around Bathtime Counting Book I checked both Amazon AND GR, to make sure that there wasn't a book that GR didn't have.

Could it be a different author?

Ann, the GR record had the wrong author. I found it on Worldcat
http://www.worldcat.org/title/whose-m...

and corrected the GR record.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

It sounds like Jo is looking for human sisters, though, not pigs, right?

I don't remember much about the content of this book, but could it have been My Icky Picky Sister by Beth Hazel and Jerome Harste? I'm providing the Amazon link because GR doesn't have a picture.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0874061...

Hmm, I can't find any interior pics, but maybe Roommates ?

Here is a description from Kirkus:
Mimi and her slightly younger sister, Beth, don't welcome sharing a room when a new baby is expected: Beth thinks Mimi is too messy, while Mimi complains that Beth pinches. In their first days together, their perpetual squabbles heighten: Mimi draws a line down the middle of the room, Beth eavesdrops and heckles when Mimi has a friend over. Ultimately, of course--starting when Mimi helps Beth with her homework--the two learn to accommodate and become better friends, sharing confidences and welcoming their new sister. Just a half-step up from an easy reader, this satisfactory dramatization of a common adjustment is nicely illustrated with warm, realistic b&w drawings.

The publishing date is 1990, however.

No, unfortunately, those aren't the book. It is a simple children's book, one with no more than sentence or two per page describing the sisters' differences. Thanks everyone. Happy Holidays!

Reminds me of Goofus and Gallant, except they were boys, not girls...

Sisters by David McPhail maybe another book to check out.

(I apologize if this was already suggested/eliminated)

Jo has left the group so this can go in Query Abandoned.