ANNUALS.
The Boy's Own Annual (R.T.S., 7s. 6d. net), the thirty-eighth annual volume of the Boy's Own Paper, is an excellent miscellany of stories and articles which proves the continued vitality of the oldest and best of boys' magazines. The illustrations, beginning with a large coloured plate of naval and military badges, seem to us better than ever, and the reeding matter is interesting and varied without ever being vulgarly jocose or sensational. The chief serial is Captain Gilaon's `' Submarine 1393," and there are other long stories of Vikirgs, of Tibet, and of Hayti, by way of relief from the burden of war.—The Girl's Own Annual, edited by Flora Klickmann (same publishers and price), is the annual volume of the Girl's Own Paper, which has developed more gravity in the course of its long career and appeals both to girls and to women. It is exceptionally well illustrated, and there are articles on dress and domestic matters, on current affairs and on religion, besides the requisite supply of fiction. An interesting article, headed " The Busiest Woman in the World," describes the daily work of the Queen.---For young children there is no better magazine than Chatter- box (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co., 3a. net, and 5s. net in cloth), and the volume for 1916 is as entertaining and varied as usual. The stories and short articles on innumerable topics are just what little people will like, and the illustrations are plentiful and good. The chief serial is Mr. Rainey's " Mystery of an Ancient Papyrus " ; it is as thrilling as its title. Sunday and Every-Day Reading for the Young (same publishers and prices) is the 1916 volume of another old-established magazine for children which maintains its high standard. In turning over its well- stocked pages, we have found an anecdote of the late Canon Philpotts selling a " Lady Hamilton" by Romney so that he might pay for the building of the south transept porch of Truro Cathedral. This is a parallel, as the author states, to the well-known ease of Keblo devoting the proceeds of The Christian Year to the rebuilding of Hursley Parish Church.—The British Bay's Annual (Cassell and Co., 5s.) deserves a word of praise as an entertaining miscellany of tales and articles, led off by Sir Harry Johnston on exploration. Mr. D. H. Parry's story, " A Hussar of Napoleon's," is a spirited affair.
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