15 DECEMBER 1900, Page 21

A Noah's Ark Geography. By Mabel Dearmer. (Macmillan and Co.

6s.)—There is certainly a moral in this book, and it is very neatly expressed by the first pioture and the last. In the first there is a weary-looking governess who is putting questions out of a book to a little boy who has reached the very extremity of boredom; in the last the governess is radiant with smiles, and the boy is full of the delight of a new acquisition. These dreary lessons mean something after all, and he knows what it is. But while we are passing from one picture to the other we are not bored with morals or anything of the kind. Story and pictures are pure fun ; so it seems, at least ; and if the child finds that he has learnt something after all from what he has been reading, it has certainly been done without his knowing. It is all cleverly managed ; more than that, the fun is manifestly enjoyed by the fun-maker. The pictures—Mrs. Dearmer wields both pencil and pen—are in admirably good keeping with the text.