A CHILD'S BOOK.* Tins is one of the prettiest books

for children we have over seen. If it be good for young eyes and . minds to become early acquainted with grace and beauty of form, as Plato and divers other profound philosophers have taught, a supply of artistic story-books must perforce be an important element in nursery education. And let no vain scoffer observe that children of an age suited to such tales as these are utterly insensible to artistic merit. The present writer only the other day observed two small critics turn over Miss Greenaway's dainty draw- ings with an air of intense gratification, and a running commentary which h; sincerely wishes he could remember. Having finished with Miss Greenaway, they proceeded, with that strict impartiality which distinguishes the born critic, to devote themselves to an old, battered, and exceedingly hideous picture- book, come down to them from pre-artistic days. They went on just as happy as before, till at last a certain page was reached whereon stood the likeness of a naughty girl, who by a righteous retribution for some heinous offence had become as black as printer's ink

• Under the Window. By limo Greenaway. Engraved and printed by Edmund Evans. London: George Linutledge and Sons. could make her. " We neser look at that picture," the lesser student solemnly remarked, peeping all the time between the leaves,—" it is too horrible !" And it was horrible, most horrible. Our theory stood confirmed,—these children were not insensible

to art, but their aesthetic education had been neglected ! Six months of Miss Greenaway will doubtless reform all this, and wean them from their taste for pre-Raphaelite drawing.

Miss Greenaway describes her book as " pictures and rhymes for children." Both children and "big people" must be de- lighted with the pictures, but we doubt if either one or the other will greatly care for the rhymes. The best that can be said of them is, that they are not wanting in a certain " go " and ring (" Teutonic lilt," the high-art writers call it) which makes them easy to read aloud,—an important matter, in collec- tions of this kind. Some of them are parodies, a sort of fun children do not care for ; and those which have any poetry about them are, for the most part, spoiled for grown-up readers by the strong admixture of nonsense-verse which children are supposed to like. Perhaps the prettiest are these, under the picture of a sweet little chap, in a huge straw-hat and a white frill, gazing pensively into the sky, with his hands in his pockets :—

" It was Tommy who said,

'The sweet spring-time is come; I see the birds flit, And I hear the bees hum.

Oho ! Mister Lark Up aloft in the sky, Now, which is the happiest,— Is it you, sir, or I P" We think the author would do better to follow Mr. Caldecott's example, and choose some of the famous nursery legends for illustration. " We should like to see Grimm's glorious collection

with designs by her hand. Why should we not have an edition, de luxe of rimm,—a grown-up people's Grimm; with a full

and accurate translation, which we have never had yet, and a store of first-rate pictures P Cruikshank's illustrations of

Grimm will never be surpassed, it is true, but they are few where many are needed. We have numbers of line editions of the Arabian, Nights; why should not the greatWesteru stories be as popular as their Eastern brethren P They are of at least equal value, from a scientific point of view, and they are delightful reading. We should like to see Miss Greenaway's idea of Brother Lustig trying to raise the dead, or of the hero

who travelled to learn what shivering meant at the moment when he at last makes that interesting discovery. She has the right Fee-faw-fum notion of goblins and witches, both in terrible and frolicsome aspect. The witch with elf-locks and broom-stick, hovering in mid-air, is a fine, un- conventional rendering of these dread creatures of the middle- ages,—a trifle too frightful, perhaps, for very small children. She is no decrepit hag, but a creature lithe and vigorous, more

than commonly tall, swarthy, and sinewy, with a jagged beard, like the weird sisters of the barren heath, and an awful lost

look in her face. There are the usual " properties " of newts and toads, wolves, cats, and owls, and a couple of blasted trees. The old man running away with Billy is another good example of this style. Billy must have been very naughty, to merit such a fate, but his captor (though obviously

a stern old gentleman) has nothing fiendish about him. lie is evidently acting from a strict sense of elfin duty, and is carrying Billy (or rather Wilhelm, for he is an

unmistakably German goblin, own brother, we should say, to Rumpelstiltzchen, running from a most characteristically German town) to a fairy reformatory, where that self-willed young gentleman will undergo a course of severe, but well- deserved punishment. When he has given convincing proofs of repentance to the goblin governors, he will awake one morning to the sound of the fine bell of that beautiful cathedral by which he lives, and find himself back in his own little bed, a sadder

and a wiser boy. Of the mischievous elf, we have a fine speci- men, in " the notable sinner," who " stole cabbages daily, for breakfast and dinner." There is a delightful look of triumphant roguery in his eye, but we hope he will do something handsome

for the farmer,—say, thresh out his corn with " shadowy flail " next harvest, or discover to him a sack of gold pieces ender the barn-door. It is not fair to harass the agricultural interest in these bad times without compensation. And while we are upon the subject of agriculture, will Miss Greenaway permit us to observe that her cabbages are not a bit like real

cabbages, and that though possessed of some experience in stock, we never yet saw a cow in the least resembling the

animal depicted at the foot of this page P Indeed, throughout the book, the children are greatly superior to the landscape and animals. Both the latter have a wooden look about them, and the animals are often terribly out of drawing.

The designs, on the'other hand, of the landscape are remark- ably good, as a rule. The fine stretch of open down, which makes one long to join those children in their run, the trim ricks and farm-houses, and the neat little school, with its tidy oak paling and gay hollyhocks, in " School is Over," form a charmingly English setting to that charmingly English picture. The village street, in " You are Going Out to Tea To-day," is also pretty ; but best of all is the old-fashioned garden, where " that dear little maid " Phillis is treating Belinda with plum-cake and strawberries to her tea. This is, we think, the gem of the gallery. The huge yew hedges, and the cottage, with its carved porch, lattice-windows, gay creepers, and flower-beds, harmonise perfectly with .the charming little women in the foreground. There is just enough exaggeration in the still-life to suit a child's fancy. Take, for instance the apple-tree, in front of the window from which Miss Greenaway must have been peeping. The monstrous bloom upon the boughs is in itself suggestive of " a better land," where strawberries are larger, cakes plummier and sweeter, and children prettier and more engaging, if possible, than in this work-a-day world. Phillis is in a fascinating mob-cap and a graceful flounced frock of her grandmother's day, with the loveliest blue sash and ribbons, which becom e her yellow hair and busy little face wonderfully. She fully feels the dignity and cares of her position, and lifts the dainty old china tea-pot (real blue and white), in both be-mittened hands, with a delicious air of im- portance, not uumingled with housewifely anxiety as to the colour of the " first cup." However, she is such a womanly little personage, that we are confident in her powers of tea- making, and feel sure that her guest will be able to praise the decoction with honesty, as well as politeness. Belinda is a brown beauty. She has a flowered gown, and wears her hair in a pigtail and a red ribbon. She has no hat on her shapely head, but as we have Miss Greenaway's word for it that the garden is " shaded with trees," the anxiety which we should otherwise feel for such an imprudent young person is removed. In face and pose the guest is as good as the hostess. She has on her best manners, as well as her red coral neck- lace, and is trying hard to look " grown-up." There is just a slight gene between the little people, at first. Both are op- pressed with the solemnity of the occasion, and Belinda looks as nervous as the hostess herself about that first cup. But this will quickly pass away, once the pair begin on the strawberries ; and the blackbirds will be startled by many a merry little laugh before the maid comes out, to say that it is time for Miss Belinda to go home. By the way, where is the blackbird P We have vainly looked for him in all quarters, and as Miss Greenaway gives him a whole verse to himself, she may be sure that all her small readers will expect to see him. Another charming picture is the dance of the four little fisher- boys on the sands. The face of the little fellow singing is quite beautiful in its frank joyousness, but we think that he sang in a French patois, and that he and his small mates were first sketched on sunnier shores than ours. The little maidens under the blue umbrellas, too, are clearly Norman, in their vast white caps and aprons. The chubby, solemn faces are very pretty and very natural, as they pace down the hill in the bright sunshine, to the white town by the sea. The little boys round the pump, with their air of gaping wonder, the "three tabbies," the pug- nacious emissaries of the butcher and the baker ; and above all, the row of country-folk looking over the wall, to see the King - and the Queen pass by, are comic sketches of very high merit. The last especially shows real power. Those two gentlemen in the middle are irresistible,—the fat man in the green hat and feather, and the lanky-haired in- dividual in the red night-cap ; the one gazing with all his eyes, and crushing his well-fed chin against the coping ; the other waiting with a stolid determination which, we trust, will not go unrewarded. " Little Fanny," in her warm furs and great hat, is a sweet child's face, with honest eyes, and open, trustful look. So is the little bride just opposite to our favourite tea-party. So are the five little sisters, standing like marigolds, " all in a row ;" and so, too, is the little creature sit- ting alone in her blue cape and pelisse, on the old wooden stile, and talking to the sun, and the lark, and the flowers. The hoop-players are full of life and "go," to use that vulgar word again ; and there are two small people at the bottom of the title-

page, seated, perhaps because unable to stand, who are admils ably drawn.

We have praised this book fully and freely for its good points, and we now feel bound to say a word on its demerits,. which are neither few nor small, and which we feel justified in animadverting upon the more severely, that we are convinced they are the result of haste and carelessness, rather than of ignorance, or want of skill. The faults of drawing are numerous and grave. There is a lovely figure of a girl,.

with a baby in her arms, which is quite spoilt by having: legs nearly twice as long as the body. Even in the tea-party—

and it surely was worth any artist's while to take a little trouble in working out so graceful a design—Belinda is all out of draw- ing. Then we find a certain number of necks rounded and

brought out by necklaces, which, though perhaps legitimate, is certainly slovenly workmanship. There is also a great mannerism in Miss Greenaway's method of drawing the mouth. The curve, she adopts is quite peculiar, and may be seen in all, or nearly all, her work. The picture of Prince Finikin appears to be an unconscious reminiscence of " Alice ;" the Prince's mamma is exactly like the White Queen. The stiffness of the landscape, we have already remarked on, but this is probably due in part

to the necessary imperfection of this kind of printing. The colours, too, look a little cold by daylight, but they deepen wonderfully when the candles are brought in, so that, after all, they are well suited to Christmas. And in this they are like. the rest of the book. It is kindly and bright from beginning: to end, and does great credit to all concerned in bringing it out, from author to binder.