Angel Children

In September, 1999, I posted two threads requesting information on a
children's book about angel children: http://www.tinyurl.com/dmplk

The book began with the following lines:
Angel children are little things
with fairy ways
and fairy wings.

It then went on to describe the chores the angel children performed
each day of the week. My sister-in-law had read this book to her
daughters in the 1960s and wanted another copy to read to her
grandchildren. My wife remembered the book as well.

I'm usually good with locating books for people, but I struck out for
the longest time with this one. What made matters worse was that this
book was for family!

I knew the book was not the one written by Charlotte Higgins in the
1850s: "Angel Children, Or Stories From Cloud Land." I also knew it
wasn't a book with the same title about children dying. That's about
all I knew about the book.

Periodically, I would check Abebooks and Bookfinder for "Angel
Children," but to no avail. One day in the early part of 2000, I did a
Google search for the phrase: "Angel children are little things with
fairy ways and fairy wings." Lo and behold I discovered that someone
included the phrase in a thread to "Stump the Bookseller" of Loganberry
Books. I wasn't the only one looking for the book. The poster was
looking for a book about angel children performing chores. The book
began with the same phrase my sister-in-law remembered, and, after
reading the ending to her, she recalled that it ended the same as what
the poster said: "And if sometimes you'll watch When the sky is real
blue, Maybe you'll see one winking at you!"

I was hoping my sister-in-law and my wife were patient women, because
over four years went by before I discovered another clue about the book.
While searching the web one day, I came across a poem about angels that
was posted to FictionPress.com. The poem began with the following
lines:
Angel children are little things.
With fairy ways,
and fairy wings.

It ended with the lines:
Then sometimes you look in the sky.
When the sky is real blue. Maybe you can see one winking at you!

The poster added: "This is just a little poem I wrote that has some
cute little lines. I hope you like it." Her poem was posted in
August,2000.

I queried the FictionPress.com poster about her poem. I mentioned that
my sister-in-law had read a book that included similar lines and I
wondered if maybe the poster was unknowingly writing about a book she
may have read as a child herself. I never received a response.

Last month, while checking Loganberry Books for an update, I discovered
that Angel Children (A228) was listed as "solved" in the Stump the
Bookseller section. Someone remembered reading a book about the chores
angel children do, only the angel children were called "Twinkle Tots"
instead of "Angel Children." In fact, the title of the book was
"Twinkle Tots."

I was a happy man. I ordered one copy of "Twinkle Tots" for my
sister-in-law and one copy for my wife. When they read the book, they
both said it wasn't the same book they had read when they were younger.
Some of the lines of poetry were different; moreover, they both swore
they remembered the phrase "Angel Children" as being in the book and not
"Twinkle Tots."

Interesting....

The author, Frances Wosmek, had written a handful of children's books,
many of which were published in the United KIngdom as well as in the
United States. I was thinking maybe the book was published under a
different title in each country. I went looking for clues at
Bookfinder, Abebooks, COPAC and the LOC website. I missed the clue at
Abebooks the first time around, but I found it the second time: One
bookseller just happened to mention the beautiful pictures of little
angels that were illustrated in the book. I queried the bookseller....

In front of me, I have a copy of "Sky High" by Frances Wosmek. The book
begins with these lines:

Angel Children are little things
with fairy ways
and fairy wings.

Jerry Morris,
A Happy Man Again

Moi's Books About Books: http://www.tinyurl.com/hib7
Moi's LIbrary http://www.moislibrary.com My Sentimental Library
http://www.picturetrail.com/mylibrary Florida Bibliophile Society
http://www.floridabibliophilesociety.org

MR. MORRIS: YOU HAVE JUST MADE ME A HAPPY PERSON, AND EVEN IF I CAN'T
FIND ONE BY CHRISTMAS, I NOW REMEMBER THE CORRECT NAME OF THE BOOK. I
ALSO POSTED ON STUMP THE BOOKMASTER, LOOKING FOR INFORMATION AND FOUND
ONE OTHER LADY THAT SAID HER MOM USED TO READ IT TO HER IN THE 50'S. I
WAS BEGINNING TO THINK I HAD IMAGINED THE BOOK, BUT I COULD RECITE ALL
THE LINES WITHOUT FAIL AND IT HAS BEEN ABOUT 20 SOME YEARS SINCE I
BOUGHT THE BOOK. I ALWAYS SAVED IT FOR THE DAUGHTER I BOUGHT IT FOR
WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT 2. SHE IS NOW 29. HOWEVER, AS WITH A LOT OF THINGS,
I CAN'T FIND OR REMEMBER WHERE I PUT IT. AS SOON ASI SAW THE WORDS
"SKY HIGH", I INSTANTLY REMEMBERD THAT WAS THE REAL TITLE, AND IT WAS
NOT ANGEL CHILDREN, AS I HAD BEEN THINKING IT WAS. I HAVE A SOMEWHAT
"SCHITZOPHRENIC(?) STEP- SON THA SUGGESTED I SEARCH ON MSN (WHICH WAS
WHAT I ALWAYS USED, I DON';T KNOW A LOT ABOUT COMPUTERS, BUT I JUST
FIGURED ALL SEARCH ENGINES WOULD USE THE SAME INFO. ANYWAY, I DECIDED
AS I TALKED TO HIM, TO TRY ON GOOGLE, AND THE FIRST LINK WAS YOURS.
EVEN IF I NEVER FIND A BOOK ON THIS, I WILL AT LEAST KNOW I AM NOT
COMPLETELY NUTS. tHANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING, AND FOR THE CONTINUED
STORY OF YOUR SEARCH. I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND
LUCK FINDING ANY OTHER BOOK YOU WANT. TERI IVERSON, BOX 99, SUNBURST,
MT. 59482 OR
Jerry Morris wrote:
In September, 1999, I posted two threads requesting information on a
children's book about angel children: http://www.tinyurl.com/dmplk

The book began with the following lines:
Angel children are little things
with fairy ways
and fairy wings.

It then went on to describe the chores the angel children performed
each day of the week. My sister-in-law had read this book to her
daughters in the 1960s and wanted another copy to read to her
grandchildren. My wife remembered the book as well.

I'm usually good with locating books for people, but I struck out for
the longest time with this one. What made matters worse was that this
book was for family!

I knew the book was not the one written by Charlotte Higgins in the
1850s: "Angel Children, Or Stories From Cloud Land." I also knew it
wasn't a book with the same title about children dying. That's about
all I knew about the book.

Periodically, I would check Abebooks and Bookfinder for "Angel
Children," but to no avail. One day in the early part of 2000, I did a
Google search for the phrase: "Angel children are little things with
fairy ways and fairy wings." Lo and behold I discovered that someone
included the phrase in a thread to "Stump the Bookseller" of Loganberry
Books. I wasn't the only one looking for the book. The poster was
looking for a book about angel children performing chores. The book
began with the same phrase my sister-in-law remembered, and, after
reading the ending to her, she recalled that it ended the same as what
the poster said: "And if sometimes you'll watch When the sky is real
blue, Maybe you'll see one winking at you!"

I was hoping my sister-in-law and my wife were patient women, because
over four years went by before I discovered another clue about the book.
While searching the web one day, I came across a poem about angels that
was posted to FictionPress.com. The poem began with the following
lines:
Angel children are little things.
With fairy ways,
and fairy wings.

It ended with the lines:
Then sometimes you look in the sky.
When the sky is real blue. Maybe you can see one winking at you!

The poster added: "This is just a little poem I wrote that has some
cute little lines. I hope you like it." Her poem was posted in
August,2000.

I queried the FictionPress.com poster about her poem. I mentioned that
my sister-in-law had read a book that included similar lines and I
wondered if maybe the poster was unknowingly writing about a book she
may have read as a child herself. I never received a response.

Last month, while checking Loganberry Books for an update, I discovered
that Angel Children (A228) was listed as "solved" in the Stump the
Bookseller section. Someone remembered reading a book about the chores
angel children do, only the angel children were called "Twinkle Tots"
instead of "Angel Children." In fact, the title of the book was
"Twinkle Tots."

I was a happy man. I ordered one copy of "Twinkle Tots" for my
sister-in-law and one copy for my wife. When they read the book, they
both said it wasn't the same book they had read when they were younger.
Some of the lines of poetry were different; moreover, they both swore
they remembered the phrase "Angel Children" as being in the book and not
"Twinkle Tots."

Interesting....

The author, Frances Wosmek, had written a handful of children's books,
many of which were published in the United KIngdom as well as in the
United States. I was thinking maybe the book was published under a
different title in each country. I went looking for clues at
Bookfinder, Abebooks, COPAC and the LOC website. I missed the clue at
Abebooks the first time around, but I found it the second time: One
bookseller just happened to mention the beautiful pictures of little
angels that were illustrated in the book. I queried the bookseller....

In front of me, I have a copy of "Sky High" by Frances Wosmek. The book
begins with these lines:

Angel Children are little things
with fairy ways
and fairy wings.

Jerry Morris,
A Happy Man Again

Moi's Books About Books: http://www.tinyurl.com/hib7
Moi's LIbrary http://www.moislibrary.com My Sentimental Library
http://www.picturetrail.com/mylibrary Florida Bibliophile Society
http://www.floridabibliophilesociety.org