23 OCTOBER 1897, Page 25

Gerald and Dolly. By D'Esterre. (Nisbet and Co.)—These "two small

people" are sufficiently amusing on paper. In real life they must have been distracting. The humours of children make excellent fun when they are used as interludes, as Henry Kingsley does in " Ravenshoe ; " a whole volume of them is a. little trying. Still, the book contains some fairly good fun.