Help Wanted: Find These Lost Books

Have you ever had a time when you remember a favorite book from years past, but you can’t remember the title or author? It’s very frustrating. I really wish I could remember. There are three books that haunt me, and I have no idea how to find them. Google searches have not been helpful so far.
The first is a book of fairy tales that my grandmother sent me as a child. This book was large and had the most gorgeous, full color illustrations. I sat for hours and looked at the pictures. I wanted to step into that world. All I remember is that it was a collection of stories.
The second was a children’s book about a little boy who taped big pieces of brown paper (cut from brown paper bags) and taped them on the wall. Then he drew animals on the paper, and at night the animals would come alive and play with him. One elephant was particularly playful. I was so intrigued by the idea that I taped up my own brown paper and copied his animals from the book, hoping mine would come alive too.
The third book was a novel, published previous to 1981. I was going through a very hard time, and this book brought me a great deal of comfort when I read it. I found it one day while going through the stacks in the local library. The story was about a little girl who has to walk home every day through a forest. It’s dangerous, and she’s scared. But then a huge dog comes and walks beside her and keeps her safe on the way home. The dog comes in her house, sits by the fireplace for a while, and then leaves. Every day the dog comes, and he protects her from some bad people too. She loves the dog very much. At the end of the story you realize that this gigantic dog is a lion.
Has anyone out there read any of these books? Can you give me any ideas about how to find them? I would really appreciate your help.