We are to have a series of "Animal Autobiographies" (A.
and C. Black, 68.), of which the first volume is now before us, The Autobiography of a Eat, by G. M. A. Hewett. It is an amusing book. The rat is not ashamed of himself. He even recalls with pride the fact that he has been eaten, not only in times of siege— which, as he observes, would not count for much—but of free choice by people who think his flesh a dainty, "so that those conceited partridges need not give themselves such airs." To his own experiences he adds those of kinsfolk, of the city-rat, for instance, who lives in sewers. The subject is a large one when one comes to explore it, and Mr. Hewett has made good use of it.
Our old friend Grimm's Fairy Tales appears in a very pleasing shape, Illustrated by Helen Stratton (Blackie and Son, 58.) The illustrations, thirty of which are coloured, and about half as many again in black-and-white, are suitable in tone and spirit to the tales.
Previous page
