I’ve spent hour and hours desperately trying to search for a book I had as a small child (late 80s / early 90s)
I don’t remember much but I’m really sure the first story was about a girl who really wanted to buy a beautiful marionette puppet from a toy shop and when she went to buy it a little boy wanted. I’m sure she ended up giving it to the little boy (I feel like he had a sad backstory) the other story I remember is about a pair of old boots and a new pair of boots. The new shoes are really mean (I clearly remember the illustration of the boot / shoe stocking it’s tongue out). The old boots are just really muddy from being worn to work but then the owner cleans them up and they look lovely and new again and get worn loads.
I’m sure the cover was blue with a big Illustration in the centre. I can’t remember much else just that the illustrations were really pretty
It’s driving me nuts