Can any help me decide whether this ruddy book was real, or whether I dreamed it?

[GreenLumpyTonsilsAgain]

It was called "The Birthday Present" I think. But when I search (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones etc) there are other books with the same name but not the one I remember

I was about a child wanting to buy a birthday present for his/her mother, I can't remember whether it was a boy or a girl. Various options get considered and rejected, it goes through all the different colours, and the eventual result is a basket of fruit (ie all the colours in one present). I think there was a rabbit in there somewhere, making suggestions.

Please tell me it really existed. I want to get it for ds2, but I can't find it

That's Madeline isn't it? Two straight lines etc etc.

If you're posting on the abebooks forums probably best to post on the main (.com) site rather than the UK-specific (.co.uk) site -- it gets a lot more traffic, even from UK posters (I used to be a prolific abebooks poster in my pre-DS and maternity leave days, and one day I shall be again)

Or do you mean this , Greeny?

This one?

The youngest one was Madeline, etc etc?

Or possibly The Happy Orpheline , by Natalie Savage Carlson?

Is it NQC? I saw the film of Madeline and like it, but couldn't decide whether it was related to the book I remembered, it seemed so different in character - perhaps because of the illustrations.

Come to think of it, I think there may have been several books (and several book-related run-ins with that teacher, she was a horse-faced old bitch anyway)

Oh good point Lemonaid I don't know why I posted the uk one, tbh

I am sorry but have drawn a blank on the guinea pigs, unless it was one of the ones on Wiki

Bah! Beaten by Franny mumblegrumblemoanwhinge

Ah, that would be why she was using the french for orphan. I did wonder ...

I think it was the Happy Orpheline....but I'm not sure. The illustrations inside would have been different from the ones on the cover anyway.

am going to bed now before I can get stumped again

The Madeline one has the girls in rows a lot, with very striking (to my childhood ear) rhymes. On amazon, you can look inside the Madeline book, but not the Orpheline one, as it's not really in print in the US. Anyway, link here

No, tisn't any of those on wikipedia. maybe it was called something like 'the day that stood still' or something about time. captured my imagination anyway. i'll try and find it and let you know.