The cover of This Way Delight should entice any child
to open it immediately. Sir Herbert. Read has selected those poems which are particularly appropriate for children since they ignore adult experiences while never appearing childish. They are arranged in five groups of progressive com- plexity, beginning with Charms, followed by Songs, Enchantments, Escapes and Stories. In a very readable essay for children, 'What is Poetry?', he considers its essential ingredients music and magic, discusses the poet's use of imagery most lucidly and ends with some suggestions for would- be poets. Highly recommended for 10-year-olds who will be proud to retain it until adulthood. about how a horrid child was taught a lesson and made much nicer by her fairy godmother. Walter de la Mare's stories may well bog (10° all but the most persevering 8 to 12s. , er, wrought, indrawn, full of poetry and wc his story-telling sometimes winds away int° elaborate, etiolated detail that makes reading aloud exhausting. But dreamy older children W1 come back and back to it. The stilted language of The Silver Skates is difficult to get your tongue round. But this nineteenth-century tale about Dutch children • „ an exhilarating winter world of sun and deserves to survive because of its moving or, and close-packed information delivered 111 the vivid homely style typical of American childrefts writers of the period.
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