Mr. E. V. Lucas, who as the editor of the
delightful " Dumpy Books" and of an admirable collection of poetry for children has, already established his claim to be considered a nursery bene- factor, has now collaborated with Mr. F. D. Bedford, an artist oe
skill and distinction, in The Book of Shops (Grant Richards, oblong•
4to,68.), a happy idea, carried out with charming results both on the literary and artistic sides. We are glad to see that in the twenty- odd coloured pictures which make up the volume Mr. Bedford has not disregarded the claims of the village shop or the pavement.
vendors—there is a most striking design of the hot-potato seller- -nor failed to avail himself of the picturesque possibilities pre- sented by the equipments of the chemist, the bird-fancier, and the• itinerant basket-maker. Mr. Lucas's rhymes are alert, pointed, and whimsical. We must content ourselves with one specimen o5' his work,—the stanzas on the watchmaker
:- "A watch will tell the time of day,
Or tell It nearly, anyway, Excepting when it's overwound, Or when you drop it on the ground.
It any of our watches stop,
We haste to Mr. Cogs's shop, For though to scold us he pretends, He's quite among our special friends.
He fits a dice-box In his eye, And takes a long and thoughtful spy,
And prods the wheels, and says, • War, dear,
More carelessness, I greatly fear.'
And then he lays the dice-box down And frowns a most prodigious frown ; But if we ask him what's the time He'll make his gold repeater chime."
Altogether this is quite one of the most original and attractive gift-books for children that we have seen this season.
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