Lacs des Cygnets
The Silver Man. By Catherine Anthony Clark. (Macmillan, 13s. 6d.) Circus in the Snow. By Rosemary L. Davis. (Heinemann, 12s. 6d.) The Game That Really Happened. By Norman Dale. (Hamish Hamilton, 6s. 6d.) Noah and His Animals. The Gay Colours. A Little Donkey. The Cat's Tale. By Matias. (Hutchinson, 3s. 6d. each.)
ONLY one book in this batch is worth preserving for future grandchildren. In The Silver Man, a Canadian story, exiled, orphaned Gilbert Steyne, falling asleep in a city museum, is carried back to his own country. There he and an Indian girl set out to rescue her brother, Chief of the Bird Tribe, from the Mountain King's icy domain. But first, helped by a shaman and an old white man, they must survive many hazards, encountering good and evil spirits, animals and a strange white girl under a wicked spell. This is true fantasy in which past and present are one, and legendary beliefs are infused with living poetry and with something of the magnificence of the mountains, forests and rivers from which they spring.
The Hand in the Bag also tells of human love and courage pitted, Swan Lake fashion, against other- worldly magic. Left to fend for himself in his parents' Highland crofter's cottage, Dougal Beg falls in love with Shuna, one of the Wee Folk who live under the hill. After a year of trial and ordeal, helped by thralled, half-human Vor-Glas, he wins her for his bride. Richard Kennedy's remarkable drawings add much to this gentle, evocative fairy- tale with its tang of mist-damp tweed, coarse oat- meal and trout cooked on a peat fire. Both text and illustrations in The Good American Witch will combine to give under-elevens a genuine taste of life in New England as they read how Jenny and George go in search of 'Mrs. Manage,' who appears, like Greek deities, in many disguises and with her own peculiar insignia. 'Swing up to the moon—swing right into the Twentieth Century if you like!' says Louisa's grandfather in Seven Days' Wonder. And so she does—swings right out of the eighteen- into the nineteen-fifties and lands, crinoline and all, in the lap of the Trenton family, her descendants. Mrs. Trenton, whb has read her Dunne, instantly sizes up the situation, fixes Louisa up with slacks and shirt and sees that they all make the most of her short, mutually enlightening stay.
Modern parents come badly out of The Daffodil Bird, a camping story for under-twelves. Kate's and Derry's mother, on the eve of the holidays, scribbles a note from the airport consigning them to an unknown uncle in a vulgar salmon-pink car who—horrors I —collects birdskins. They moment- arily escape to Robert (whose parents are 'abroad') and their biology master in a new nature reserve. Here they join forces with a wild boy, a sort of Papageno, and nearly lose their lives in a fire protecting a pair of golden orioles from Uncle. Vagaries of plot are redeemed by fresh descriptive treatment of wild life supported by Brian Wild- smith's illustrations.
Younger children will enjoy Circus in the Snow. Authentic circus life in an unusual setting gives body to a • little-boy-and-his-dog tear-jerker. Ludwig runs away from his Alpine village home when his parents threaten to sell his St. Bernard dog Christoph, and after many adventures they catch up with a circus and travel with it till they get back to his home. Four books in the Hamish Hamilton 'Antelope' series, well produced and illustrated, are consistently good value for under- eights. Puffins have brought out two collections from the BBC series, 'Listen With Mother': My Naughty Little Sister• is aimed at appeasing a dis- placed elder sibling, and Little Pete Stories retail the daily doings of a little boy. Both books would be achingly boring to read aloud, and bring up the whole question of catering for under-fives, a mat- ter they deal with better abroad. The point about reading aloud is that children as soon as they can listen at all will take in a range of classics and fairy stories that will last them for a lifetime. Why feed them pap? Nor are these two any introduction to hooks—books to look at and handle on Mother's knee. Wrong format, too few pictures, too much text and no colour. A striking example of the opposite—four beautifully produced picture- books from Hutchinson, Noah and His Animals, The Gay Colours, A Little Donkey and The Cat's Tale. Shining durable covers, clear five-colour illustrations by French artist Henrioud, and an amusing text in French and English make these books the sort of adaptable nursery stand-by provided by the famous Abbatt Toys for children.
JEAN HOWARD
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