GIFT-BOOKS.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS..
LOVERS of Italy will be drawn to Bliss Steedman's Madonna of the Goldfinch,' first by its title and the picture on the wrapper, and then by these words in the little Preface " I find myself looking back wistfully to the peaceful, happy days it was once my lot to spend in Italy;" and as they read these charming stories they will be once more transported, if but for a moment, to the land where they would be. Madonnas and saints, peasants and princes, move through her pages, bringing with them something of the fragrance of the " erbe aromatic° " of the South. "Hearts- ease " is a particularly pretty story of a little Venetian boy's search for a saint. We follow him and his guiding Madonna through the town, and after she has shown him how she helps and comforts the sorrowful, he finds to his surprise and joy that the saint of his quest has been in his own home all the time. But the stories are by no means all concerned with such august personages. Birds and beasts play their parts along with the children, and there is plenty of fun as well as seriousness in the telling of the adventures that their high spirits and love of mischief lead them into. The book is printed in clear, pleasant type, and has some pretty coloured illustrations set on brown-paper pages. It should give pleasure to all who read it, though perhaps those on whose hearts " Italy " is already engraved will appreciate it the moat fully.
Chriatmaa Talea of Flanders" takes ua into a very different climate, and we read of the hobgoblins of the North, and of enter. prising people who fraternize with the good saints, and even some. times outwit them. It is interesting to see here the homely common- senile of " Mother Church," of which the reflection is much the same whether it is mirrored in a Latin or a Flemish peasant's mind. In the story of Smith Verhoren we have the familiar character of the plucky mortal who can hold his own, first with the Devil himself, and then with St. Peter and St. Joseph. Some of the tales are variants of those common to many lands. For instance, there are some Hop-o'-my-Thumb adventures, and a good version of the story of the traveller belated on Christmas Eve, and turned away from the rich woman's house to be welcomed in the poor cottage. But • (1) The Madonna of the Goldfinch. By Any Eiteedntan. With 8 Illustrations In Colour by B. M. Steadman. don: T. C. and E. C. Jack. lets. (0A CAnntraos Take of Flanders. Illustrated by lean de Boaschere. London W. Heinemann. Ills. ed. net.)—(a{ .Knock Three Time s By Marion St. John Webb, Illustrated by Margaret W. neat. London : O. 0. Henan. [io. net.) --(4) The Secret Passage. By Dorothy Rumen. London T. C. and E. C. Jack. [2y. dd. net.1—(5) The. Children'. Treaeury Pictures and Storki. London T. Belem mid 8ona. ed..01-03) Th. °Midi.... Story ihs war.
Edward Parrott, ALA, LLD. Banm publishers. [do dd. net. —(7) Tne Nursery,
Book of Bible Stork.. By Amy Steadman. London T. O. E. C. Jack. [Ss. ed. net.)—(8) Babes of the 'VIAL By Illian cask. London: 0, 0. Harrap. [2a. dd. oat.)— (0) A Ride on a Rooting-Horse. By Rachel A. Marshall. London (Tans sad Windom. ed. net.)—(107 Ude Attu Ames; the True Stary of an d. uttralian Doll. By Mrs. W. A. Holman, IllustantIona by N. Redd, Lanka T. C. and
E. Jack. 123. ed. net.] there are other tales of a rather different type, such as that of the " Enchanted Apple-Tree," which relates very pleasantly the reason .` why men live longer than the sparrows, and why misery is always to be found in the world, and will doubtless remain until the end of time." In his illustrations M. Jean de Boaschere introduces us to the most remarkable and lifelike monsters it has been our good fortune to meet for a long time. If the reader is inclined to cavil at the epithet " lifelike," let him but look attentively at the " things" that throng the witches' Spanish cellar, and at the sea-monsters of the frontispiece, and ho will, we cannot doubt, agree that we have not used this expression unreasonably. The artist's snow scenes are very attractive, and so is the picture of the procession of the heavenly host on Easter morning. These and many others are coloured, and there are also plenty of capital black-and-white illus- trations.
In Knock Three Times la we have an exciting story of black and white magic. The little nine-year-old hero and heroine go from everyday life into a world peopled with more or loss strange beings, and there they undertake to help tolookfor a magic leaf which will destroy the power of an evilly disposed pumpkin who rolls upon worthy people for the pleasure of blinding them or otherwise hurting them. After many adventures Molly picks the leaf and the dreadful spell is broken. The good people are then made happy, while the wicked are sent into exile and there become harm- less. There are a number of pretty full-page coloured illustrations.
The Secret Passage 4 is a good example of Miss Dorothy Russell's gay and charming method of story.telling. Sho introduces us to the various members of a merry family party, some of whom are spondingthesummer holidays of 1914 on the English coast. German spies and a workable secret passage from the children's cottage to a convenient submarine landing-place form the central interest of the tale. These exciting incidents, not to speak of the other events and amusements in which the characters take part, make up a book which we are sure will be pronounced to be " topping " by its young readers. Miss Honor Appleton knows how to subdue the eccentricities of the three-colour process, and her full-page illustrations are charmingly soft in colour.
The Children's Treasury' is a good collection of stories for boys and girls, short topical articles such aa " The Coming of the Tanks," and directions for the carrying on of various nursery crafts. "How to Make a Toy Tent " should be read with interest by the children who wish to carry out military manoeuvres on the playroom floor. There are also a number of pretty pictures and verses for still younger children.
The sixth volume of The Children's Story of the Wars takes us "from the opening of the Somme offensive to the end of the year 1916." It is a thoroughly readable, interesting book. Besides the historical narrative, we are told something of the "Heroes of the Victoria Cross." The account of Rumania's entry into the war is prefaced by a chapter on " The Story of Rumania." " Bring- ing Down the Zeppelin's " is another interesting chapter, and the Verdun fighting is also graphically described. The pronunciation of the French place-names is given in footnotes, and though sometimes the phonetic spelling may be of some little help, it is of course misleading to suggest that an English_ oo is equivalent to a French u—for instance, Ay-boo-tern for Hnbuterne. Tho volume is illustrated in black-and.white.
The Nursery Book of Bible Stories' is a good example of the way in which these stories should be told to children. Mies Steed- roan's gentle but accomplished style is well suited to the subject, and her phrases are simple but never insipid. She begins with the Creation, or " The Beautiful World " as she calls it, and leads us through the Old and the New Testaments, telling her readers of all the principal events in a really interesting manner. The illus- trations are by no means equal to the text, and are of the usual unoriginal Bible-story-book type, but our readers must not he misled by them into thinking that the book is dull, for it is any- thing but that.
Babes of the Wild" is no doubt intended for little children, but these animal stories are so well written that the grown-up reader will enjoy their fun and high spirits as much as will the young listener. Though the creatures are given human speech and often human ways, the author cleverly avoids any touch of the tiresome sentimentality that sometimes spoils animal stories. There is plenty of " reading " in the book, as there are not many illustra- tions, and though the print is large, the volume is light and of a handy shape.
A Ride on a Rocking-Horse" is a pretty story of a little boy's quest for a dream flower. The active and intelligent rocking- horae of the title helps him in his adventure.. After falling in with all sorts of people—cloudmen, fairies, witches, and a ehild-giantese- he eventually finds himself in the nursery he started from, but with the magic flower in his hand. The illustrations are gaily coloured.
Among the picture-books for very little children we must mention Little Miss Anzac.. It is called " the true story of an Australian doll," and has an amusing " oversee " atmosphere about it. Miss N. Rodd's colour and black-and-white illustrations are as lively as the text. We particularly like the picture of " the boy's pet possum. He had shiny black eyes and he was looking at Wooden), (the doll] with them."
The Adventures of Chippybokbie, written and illustrated by Mr. Hawley Morgan (T. Nelson and Sons, 3e. 6d.). and The Betty Book (same publishers, lie.) are both pretty, cheerful picture-books. In The Rhyme Garden, written and illustrated by Marguerite Buller Allan (John Lane, Is. 6d. net), we have good verses about all aorta of nursery interests and incidents. The pictures, however, are so gaudily coloured as to be actually trying to the eyes, at any rate by daylight ; by artificial light they are more bearable. The figures are of the Dutch doll type, sometimes with unnecessarily sly expressions.
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