5 AUGUST 1876, Page 20

A Bat with Three Tales. By Mary A. Lewis. (Henry

S. Sing and Co.)—This is a capital children's story-book, but it seems to be born out of due time. It should have been published at Christmas, when people are on the look-out for such wares. It would, we think, hold its own with the best of them. The story, for instance, called "Reggie and Dick, the Young Detectives," is brimful of humour, and a pleasant appreciation of boy-life. But " Glosso the Rat" is more than this, and under the guise of a fairy-story betrays considerable observation of the ways of grown-up children. Altogether, this unpretentious story-book gives one the idea that these must be halcyon days for young people, if it is worth while in the off-season to produce for them this entertaining and thoroughly healthily written book. The illustrations, by C. F. Frere, are clever and well drawn.