SOME BOOKS FOR BOY SCOUTS- I'
THESE four books which we bring before our readers are examples of the literature that is springing up with the Scout movement. Two of the books, the stories, reflect the attempt that is being made to influence the characters of boys, and the others show something of the educational aims of the enter. prise in the way of cultivating observation. Of the story books we like The Honour of the Lions the better of the two, because the incidents and adventures are mostly not only possible but probable. In this book is told the doings of a patrol of Scouts encamped by themselves without an officer, and their adventures lead them into all sort of strange places, such as disused mines and sea caves. In these subterranean scouting places interesting discoveries, of course, are made, including a dead body and the illicit outlet of a distillery. But the chief interest of the book is the picture of the boys' characters, which are firmly and distinctly drawn. The patrol leader, the hero of the tale, wins our sympathy alike when he is dealing with a Scout who has disgraced the patrol,
• The Feast of St. Friend. By Arnold Bennett. London : Hodder and Stoughton.[2a. 6d. net.] t (1) The Honour of the Lions. By Stacey Blake. "The Scouts' Library"; No. H. London C. A. Pearson. [1s. net.)—(2) Tom Stapleton, the Boy Scout. By Captain Brereton. London Blackie and Sons. Ps. 64.1—(6) The Scout's Book of Trees. By J. W. Ciotton. London C. A. Pearson. [6d. net
Others. .' —(4) Astronomy for Boy Scouts and ho. 14 T. W. Corbin. Same pub.
'fishers [lrs. net.]
when he shows his capacity for leading, or when events force him to choose between his duty as a Scout and trying to save his father from suspicion. The book has the best spirit of the Scout movement in it, and should be popular with boys. All the details of the organization are scrupulously correct—a fact which will_appeal to_that critical realist, the boy reader. -Tom Stapleton moves on a wider - stage, which includes Canada as well as England, and has Red Indians among the characters. The detective element figures largely, in the story, and the Scouts, thanks to the forbearance and self-denial of the police, are able to track down various criminals. The incidents follow one another in an exciting manner, and, as in the other story noticed, the high ideals of conduct of the Boy Scouts here have a dominating influence on the various characters, making the book alike absorbing and inspiring for boys.
Country boys, as well as those from towns, will find a quantity of interesting information in ISfr. Gofton's little book on trees. Not only does it describe their growth and appearance, but also the nature and uses of the various kinds of wood. The drawings of leaves, twigs, and buds are clear and good, but the outlines of the growing trees leave much to be desired, and are indeed in some cases unrecog- nizable. This is a pity, as the characteristic shapes of trees are full of interest.
Astronomy for Scouts, although of an elementary nature, requires thought in reading, for a large part of the book is devoted to the explanation of laws. To grasp these, of course, requires more application than is required to take in records of distances and other observed facts. These laws are clearly stated in simple language, and though more difficult of comprehension are really more interesting and illuminating than a disconnected summary of actual phenomena.
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