Turn of the Screw
Exploration of Africa. By Thomas Sterling. (Cassell, 21s.)
SELECTING books as presents for children is one of the most difficult things I know. Only one thing is harder—choosing novels for them. At least with a book about a foreign country or people, one is giving something which has its own excitement; the combination of the known and the strange is almost irresistible, except to those impossible children who either never read at all, or else only cheap ephemeral comics. The books under review are all lively (with perhaps one exception), and many of them are unobtrusively instructive. I am thinking now in particular of Chatto and Windus's series entitled 'Immortals of Science.' The latest volumes in ' this series are about Aristotle, Archimedes and Pasteur—none of them easy men to present lucidly without appearing to over-simplify or be condescending.
Glanville Downey's Aristotle is a quite remark- able achievement; abstract thought is not easy to present to children, but the author of this book has very cleverly mingled the history of the great philosopher's time with the philosophical ideas which he put forward. In fact, any grown-up person would profit from a study of this book since it has such a fine lucidity. Naturally enough, Mr. Downey stresses Aristotle's scien- tific discoveries rather than his metaphysical ones, but his whole book gives the impression of thoroughly assimilated knowledge together with a great respect for the mind of the intelligent child. I should imagine that all three of these books would appeal to the bright child of eleven to fourteen.
Pasteur is more familiar to children and Mary June Burton's account of him will, I think, have a special appeal for boys and girls who want to become doctors or scientists. Again, history is mingled with Pasteur's personal struggles and, though it is never in the least melodramatic, the book makes exciting reading.
Archimedes is a less familiar figure. Jeanne Bendick, who has illustrated the book herself, makes the complexity of his mathematical dis- coveries much clearer by her illustrations. I am, however, inclined to think that, even so, her book will have only a very limited appeal—that is to say, it will be snatched up with avidity by the mathematically-minded child, but will, perhaps, leave others rather baffled. Miss Bendick's prob- lem is that she has chosen a subject of very limited interest. Altogether, however, I cannot praise this Chatto series too highly.
Jay Williams's Joan of Arc is a very hand- some book indeed. It appears in the Cassell Caravel Book series, and the author has not only had much scholarly help, but also access to many museums and manuscripts. The illustrations alone make the book a delight in itself; and it is true, of course, that Joan of Arc is a gift as a subject to any imaginative author. The horrors and suffering that Joan endured are not spared because this book is designed for children (and this is surely right), but they are not dwelt on either. More than anything else, Joan of Arc reminds me of a rich, wide tapestry, though to say this may seem to be denigrating the author's careful text. The burn- ing of Joan is, of course, the trickiest task for any children's writer; here,lhe author handles it with both skill and simplicity; `. . . She pleaded with them to get down—but to hold the crucifix up in front of her so she could continue to see it. . . . Some witnesses thought they heard her begging for holy water.
'Suddenly she shrieked, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" The fire enveloped her. Once more, half-stifled by her anguish, her voice cried out, "Jesus!"
'Nothing more was heard from her. Her saints had promised her freedom and martyrdom. Now she had gained both.'
It seems a far cry from Joan of Arc to anthro- pology. But perhaps it is not such a distance after all since, as Margaret Mead, the famous anthro- pologist and author of this children's book entitled People and Places, declares, 'Wherever we find human beings, we find that they wonder about other people!' Accustomed to writing for grown-ups, Miss Mead has most skilfully written a book which ranges from the life of primitive man to the need for immunisation against polio. Her book is illustrated with and greatly assisted by drawings and designs by W. T. Mars and Jan Fairservis; there are also some useful photo- graphs.
People and Places will not, I think, have the wide appeal which a handsome picture book such
as Joan of Arc will certainly have. None the less, to the increasing number of boys and girls who, today, are fascinated by geography, history, science, anthropology and archeology, People and Places is certain, to prove absorbing.
More limited in scope than Miss Mead's book, and less scintillating in its illustrations (though it too appears as a Cassell Caravel Book), Explora- tion of Africa is a serious attempt to present how we discovered Africa; its author, Thomas Sterling, has cleverly avoided producing merely an exceptionally well-made geography book, while, on the other hand, he has not been afraid to be precise and scholarly. I like his book be- cause he has not attempted to glamorise his subject. The plates and maps (though that is clearly not their purpose) will almost certainly do the latter anyway.
Finally, we have Bjorn Landstrom's The Quest for India. I am afraid that the price of this book alone will put many readers off. Also, the text seems unnecessarily verbose; this is surely a reference book for school libraries rather than a present for a child, however precocious or eager for knowledge he or she may be. Nor am I alto-
gether happy about th; illustrations; there seems to be altogether too much brown, yellow and sepia, especially in a lengthy book that positivelY demands variety and imagination in the use of colour. No doubt, though, some studious boy or girl will find this book exactly what he has been searching for, for the one certain thing about children's taste in books is its complete unpre- dictability.
ELIZABETH JENN ING5
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