BOOKS

for

CHILDREN , y

The Cream of the Jug

By L. A. G. STRONG

(3,. MI. f al j it. it ((...1 or, d. 0.1.

The Lost Queen of Egypt. By Lucile Morrison. (Seeker and Warburg. 7s. 6d.) To Arms ! By Jack Lindsay. (Oxford University Press. 5s.) In the Land of the Mogul. By Geoffrey Trease. (Blackwell. 5s.) Major and Minor. By Gunby Hadath. (Oxford University Press. 5s.) Under Sealed Orders. By Bartimeus." (Collins. 6s.) Railways Today. By J. W. Williamson. (Oxford University Press.

3s. 6d.) The Circus is Coming ! By Noel Streatfeild. (Dent. 6s.)

King of the Tinkers. By Patricia Lynch. (Dent. 6s.)

Good Citizens. By Amabel Williams-Ellis. (Howe. 3s. 6d.)

The Treasure of the Isle of Mist. By W. W. Tarn. (Oxford University

Press. 5s.)

THE first thing to be said about this year's offering of Children's Books is that, taking them as a whole, they are not nearly as good as last year's. The really remarkable books are fewer, the general level is low. Some of the hardy annuals are off colour, and the imitativeness which always disfigures this side of publishing is more servile than ever.

The causes of this state of things need not concern us. It is enough to know the effect —and to add, lest prospective purchasers be put off, that the books at the head of this article have been carefully picked, and can be recommended vigorous- ly in their several classes. The insincere, the written-down, the merely imitative, have all been ruthlessly thrown out.

Another historical novel which can be recommended .is Mr. Jack Lindsay's story of two British boys involved in the revolt of the Gauls under Vercingetorix against the Romans. This is an honest-to-goodness, exciting story. which will give , a very fair idea of the conditions which it describes. Mr. Trease's In the Land of the Mogul is about the, early days of the East India Company, and the adventures they had to meet at the court of the Great Mogul. It starts with the first-perform- ance of the Tempest at the Globe Theatre : a_ shade on the

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