BOOKS FOR BOYS* - Mr. Judd, in Tle. Conquest of
the Poles, is too pompous in his style, and too redundant to be able to give a con-
vincingly dramatized study of the several expeditions he covers. The birch and the pedagogue are too Often in evidence : " Greenland, with its deserts of inland ice had hitherto baffled men's strongest attempts at penetration." That is too dull even for a text-book. And boys will be the first to pick holes in such foolish politeness in the face of danger as this :
" take your rifle and shoot him,' panted Naneon. Quick ! I will try and hold him up meanwhile.' " ' Wait ! My hold is better than yours, I think. Hadn't you bettor leave go and—ali! Look ! Mind? ' "
Naturally the seal escaped ; what else could it do ? Even the death of Captain Oates is poorly told. Yet until the boy's ideal book of Polar Adventures arrives, Mr. Judd's must suffice. It fills a need.
There is less excuse for exaggeration in historical romances
than in any other kind of adventure-book ; and if The Earl's White Cross were not pitched in so high a key it would be a good book. The story of Simon de Montfort is an attractive
one to boys. By happy accident two lads turn Squires and are plunged into the thick of battle ; and Mr. Ker has threaded their adventures into the larger adventure of history con- vincing', and will. But is it necessary to load the speech of that period with deeiningS and trowings and 'Sea:flings ? And why not leave something to the imagination ? " Tearing up like a bulrush a stout post that stood near, he whirled it round
• The Conquest of the Poles. By Alfred Judd. (Jack, Ltd. 8s.)—The Earl's White Cross. By David Ker. (Chambers. 4s.)—The Heir of a Hundred Kings. By Herbert Strang. (Oxford University Press. 2e. 8d. )—Pleasure Island. By Gurney Slade, (Word, Lock. 4s. 84.)—The Boys of Wildcat Ranch, By Harold }Undlora. (Wells Gardner, Barton and Co, 8s„) his head like a club- and . . ." ,_ One remembers tow much better it .was done elsewhere : " And David, put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone and slang it, andSmote the Philistine in -the forehead."
- Mi. Blundell's pirate:yarn can be recommended. Like The Heir of 'a Hundred Kings it is set far-`away and bristles with rifle-shots and narrow escapes and strange outlandish people. Credulous boys will like them hath—and quickly -forget them. If they should happen not to forget them, I am afraid rude shocks. await them when they visit , the East itself.' However, bath are thorough-going boys' bOoks ; and that cannot be- said for Pleasure Island. One can only suppose that Mr. Slade has had very little to do with boys, or he would not have taken the trouble to write such irritating nonsense. The adventures of Richard—who raises the Seahopper by rubbing a lamp and is taken to visit the island. where five such folk as Guy Faulkes add Mother Shipton—are told in that annoyingly " smart " way that no boy Can abide.
The Boys of Wildcat Ranch is every boy's book. It deserves to be. There is never any doubt that Mr. Bindloss knows the fauna of -British Columbia from A to Z ; and we should suspect there was. something wrong with the boy whose imagination was not fixed by the panther fight on the very first pages: The story is 'healthy and bracing and very real. Not only is the matter ekcellent but the style is worthy of it—a consideration tab lightly forgone in the writing of boys' books. =
Previous page
