Taking it Seriously
I have divided the books under review very roughly into those which children will want to have read to them while they look at the pic- tures and those which they will read themselves. The two categories overlap at times, of course, and I suppose everyone can remember the Stalky or Alice which was read to them in bed at the age of about twelve. None of the books which I have selected talks down to children; even the simplest treats its plot and subject seriously. Constable have produced a tale about twins, called Where is John? by Lilly Mosheim and delicately illustrated by Sally Ford. This slim book costs only 4s. 6d. and is available in French and German, as well as English. It will fit neatly into a wide stocking and certainly into a pillow-case.
It is comparatively easy to write ,a book for children about animals, but very difficult not to make it either whimsical or foolish. Anne Molloy's story of a boy and his parrot, A Proper Place for Chip (Constable, 13s. 6d.), illustrated by Anthony Maitland, escapes both traps, mainly because it is so vivid and detailed. The same may be said of Nibblemeat, by Daniel Roberts, a lively account of a baby marmot which was discovered in the French Alps by two boys, Pierre and Gaston. O.U.P. publish this book at 10s. 6d., and Carol Barker's illustrations to it
have a rather charming naivete. O.U.P. also publish at 10s. 6d. Tim Fireshoe, by Ursula Wolfe!, the rather poignant story of a fat boy.
The tale has a happy but completely plausible ending and originally won a German Children's Book Prize.
Jose Maria Sanchez-Silva's The Boy and the Whale (Bodley Head, 8s. 6d.) is also poignant, but for a different reason. With this book, we return to the animal story intended primarily for the rather younger child. A boy makes friends with a whale, but when the creature has to go to the Arctic Circle, the child has grown up sufficiently to be able to accept the parting. This, perhaps, is a good moment to comment on the sensible child psychology which the best of all these books manifest. Their authors seem to be able to capture the child's imagination, to appeal to his or her love of the strange without, however, being too wary of frightening him. It is surely true that most children like to be scared a little, anyway.
Some of the new books for the older children overlap, as I have said, with those for the younger ones; there is no fixed age deadline. One thing one dbes notice, however, and that is that, as the children's ages rise, the stories written for them become more matter-of-fact, less concerned with daydreams and imaginary worlds, and more intent on depicting the solid world in which we all live here and now. Per- haps there is in all childhoods a period when children actively resent the bizarre, fantastic and magical (it is only later that we return to The Looking-Glass and to science' fiction). This would appear to account for the fact that school stories. such as those of Angela Brazil for girls, and plausible tales of adventure, like those of Arthqr Ransome, are still so popular. Books like these not only reflect, in a rather rosy light certainlY, our own daily lives, but they also form a bridge between the world of fairyland and the adult universe of personal relationships. Children arc seldom escapists and this we tend to forget.
Jane Duncan's Camerons on the Hills (Mac- millan, 15s.) is a well-written story of moun- taineering and mountain disasters in the Scottish Highlands. It will, I think, have a stronger appeal to boys than to girls, though one can never be sure about -these things (I remember myself regularly subscribing to The Gem when I was about eleven). Jane Duncan knows her country well, and her plot is always convincing.
John Pudney's The Hartwarp Balloon (Hamish Hamilton, 8s. 6d.) is an inventive story about a balloon which Charley and his companions con- sider highly suitable for providing an aerial view of the Changing of the Guard. The hazards in- volved are numerous, but the book manages to avoid the realms of fantasy; I think it is a real bargain by Reindeer Books at 8s. 6d.
Delia Huddy's Jane Plays Hockey (Constable. Ils. 6d.) is an unusual school story. Based 00 sound child psychology, it manages neither to be portentous nor daunting. Jane is a misfit at Haggerton; her home is difficult and she cannot adapt herself to school life. This story is sensible without being in the least moralising.
Lettice Cooper's Bob-a-Job (Brockhamptorl Press, 12s. 6d.) explains itself. It is a delight- fully written story of one day in the life of two Wolf Cubs. The author succeeds both in identi- fying herself with her characters' problems and also in giving us a highly sensitive picture of one particular aspect of the loves of small boys nowadays.
One cannot end a review of this kind without
at least mentioning Eleanor Farjeon's Kaleido. scope (O.U.P., 15s.), enchantingly illustrated by Edward Ardizzone. The book is a happy mix- ture of fantasy and realism and will surely enlarge the vision of any child, however appar- ently down-to-earth and scornful of the mysterious he or she may be.
ELIZABETH JENNINW3
Previous page
