10 DECEMBER 1921, Page 24

STORIES FOR SMALL CHILDREN.

The Airplane Spider, by Gilbert Murray (Black, 2s. 6d. net), is a charming adaptation of Fabre's researches in the form of a story. The author makes the life of Laura, the spider, uncom- monly interesting without ever departing from the facts. He has a talent for pleasing children just as he pleases their elders. The little book is cleverly illustrated in colours by Mr. Harrison Cady.—In Rachel and the Seven Wonders (Thornton Butter- worth, 7s. 6d. net) Miss Netts Syrett imagines that a child dreams of the Great Pyramid, the Colossus of Rhodes and the other wonders as they appeared in the ancient world. It is a pleasant book with some good pictures by Miss Joyce Mercer. In Toby and the Odd Beasts (same publisher and price) Miss Syrett pursues the same method with stories of the griffin, the halcyon, the phoenix and other fabulous and amusing beasts. Miss Lilian Covey's drawings are ingenious.—Mr. Koebel's The Butterflies' Day (same publisher and price), with pictures by Miss Hilda Miller, describes some of the more familiar butter- flies which came to talk and play with a small boy. The story is readable and will teach children to distinguish the butterflies. —Miss Ethel Cook Eliot's The Little House in the Fairy Wood (same publisher and price) is an engaging fairy tale, somewhat in the manner of Hans Andersen, about two children's adven- tures in an enchanted wood. It is well written and is well illustrated by Miss Mabel Hatt.

Miss Elizabeth Croly has found a good title for her " story of magic " in The Street that Ran Away (Mills and Boon, 515.

net), and the book is as comical and as full of the unexpected as the title suggests. Betty and the two children have astonish- ing adventures with the Pantomime Fairy, and Aesop, and Doctor Fudge, and other queer people, which we dare not attempt to summarize.—Pack's Broom, by E. Gordon Browne (Harrap, Os. net), is another well written and entertaining book. George Henry with his dog set out for the land of romance and found a dragon, a witch, a knight, and a giant in a castle who told him the story of the golden sausage. It is a lively tale which swill amuse children greatly.—The Joyous Travellers, by Maud Lindsay and Emilie Poulsson (same publisher and price), is a set of tales in prose and verse with illustrations by Mr. W. M. Berger. Some of the tales are good, especially "The Merry Clown."—A well written and well printed book, The Enchanted Forest, by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite and Grenbry Outhwaite (Black, 12s. 6d. net), contains a number of pleasing stories about the fairies. The illustrations in line and colour are unusually elaborate and attractive.