GIFT -BOOKS.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS.t
In Wheelabout and Gears/one is a charming story-book. Fairies and mortals live on good terms in Wheelabout Wood, and though evil, as personified in the prick-eared grey imp R,abjibooli, some times comes perilously near to victory, the good super-fairy, White Blackbird, always wins the day. We have some of the usual fairy- tale types, such as a woodcutter and his little girl and her wiekech stepmother, and also plenty of other woodland people, whose • Jaunty Joek, and other Stories. By Nell Munro. London : William Blaelswood and Sons. [8s. net.] t In Wheelabout and Cod:alone. By Grace Rhys. With Colour Drawings by Magaret W. Tarrant and Line Drawings by Megan Rhys. London : G. G. Harm]) and Co. [5s. net.]—(2) The Strand Fairy Book. London : G. Newnes. f7s. 6d. net.]—(8) Fairy Tales from Foreign Lands. By Druid Grayl. Illustrated by Elsie Lunn. Oxford : B. II. Blackwell. (8s, 6d. net.]—(4) The Fairies' Annual. Pro- ented by Cecil Starr Johns. London : John Lane. [10s. 6d. net,]--(5) Lift/s London : Cassell and Co. (13s. tld, net.]—(6) The Child's Own Magazine. London : 57 and 59 Ludgate Hill. Rs. aet.1—(7) The Rosebud Annual. Landon : James Clarke and Co. [U. net.)
characters are all cleverly drawn and distinctly differentiated, from a Puck-like boy fairy to a bed-ridden old grandfather. This old
man is a delightful person, and he could hardly be otherwise, for we are told that he was "never cross, always kind and very polite . . . this was grandfather's special magic." He had another also, for he could carve so cleverly that he was able to improve the personal appearance of Old Man Tree Root, a fairy doll. Several threads of interest run through the book, but probably the children will be most thrilled by the metamorphosis of the wicked step- mother into a fierce dragon donkey, and her gradual change into a useful, good-tempered creature, who revelled in all possible asinine luxuries. The illustrations in colour and black-and-white are very pretty, and show us the "little people" performing all sorts of merry antics.
The Strand Fairy Book 2 is a collection of short stories in which the imps and fairies of many lands play their parts with zest, and successfully worry or help the mortals they come in contact with. We are given no author's name with this book, but whoever he is he has done his work well, and wrapped up an excellent moral in each tale, in such a pleasing guise that even the most captious young critic could find nothing amiss with such tales 88 that of the regener- ation of the Prince who took for his motto "Never run from the lion." There are a number of black-and-white illustrations.
Fairy Tales from Foreign Lands° is a nice handy little volume in which "Druid Grayl " has strung some of the old golden beads of folk-lore into a chain to delight the children of to-day. There is a Red Indian story that recalls The Forsaken Merman with the roles reversed, and with a happy ending, and many other "ghosts of old romances," as the author calls her tales in a Proem. The Princess who was the lucky possessor of enchanted, and at the same time industrious, furniture will rouse the envy of less fortunate mortals, who when they know that a room ought to be swept cannot hope that their own brooms, or even the patent mops, will sot to work and make things clean and tidy in answer to a politely expressed request. The illustrations are in black-and-white.
In The Fairies' Annua/4 the point of view is that of the fairies themselves, or at any rate Mr. Starr Johns's idea of it. It is amusing to look at people and things from a fresh angle, and some of the stories are good ; but why should some rather dull skita on contem- porary journalism have found their way into a child's book ? We suspect that the author had one eye on a certain type of grown-up reader and the other on the child listener, and tried to amuse them both. The volume is got up with a quite old-fashioned lavishness of paper and has numbers of pictures, coloured and black-and- white ; but it is a pity that an illustrator who can draw such a charming design as the black tailpiece to the story of "The King's Messenger" or the full-page coloured illustration of "The Dream Fairies," should produce repulsive things like "Mr. and Mrs. Nasty Taste," to mention only one example. The cover, on which is a horrid yellow face and beckoning hand, is really startling, and might well frighten a child.
The eighty-eighth volume of Little Fo/k.s5 is even better than its predecessors, if that is possible. It contains an exciting naval serial story by Mr. Eric Wood, which is certain to interest its readers. There is also an amusing serial story about a girls' school by Miss Christine Chandler. It is not very realistic, our fifteen-year- old critic tells us, for, like many other stories on this subject, it makes school seem to be "all play and no work," which is cer- tainly not the ease. A new feature of this year's volume is called "Little Folks Parliament," in which the questions, "To go to school or to be taught at home ? Which is the most interesting?" and "Are Fairy Tales uninteresting ? " are discussed. There are also articles on a variety of subjects, many short stories for all ages of young readers, and a wealth of coloured and black-and- white illustrations. In fact, there are things to suit all tastes, from the toddling child to the more exacting boy or girl. Lucky is the child who gets Little Folks as a Christmas present.
The Child's Own Magazine' is for children under thirteen. In it we find a serial story of the adventures of four children on an island, as well as many short stories. There are also various amusing little picture puzzles, and the letterpress is clearly printed. The coloured frontispiece is charming, and there are plenty of black-and-white illustrations The Rosebud Annual° is full as usual of stories and verses for nursery children, and hardly a page is without a picture of little people or animals playing some sort of amusing prank.
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