Two from Italy
CAROLA OMAN
The King's Room Eilis Dillon. illustrated by Richard Kennedy (Hamish Hamilton 12s) The Befana's Toyshop Gianni Rodari, translated by Patrick Creagh illustrated by J. and A. Grahame Johnstone (Dent 25s)
The King's Ronm is a deceptively simple- looking,little book. The flyleaf of the jacket announces. 'This is a Hamish Hamilton Reindeer Book for children to read to themselves' For this purpose it seems exactly right and the reader should be about the age of the young hero Pipo. who in his striped jersey and shorts accompanies us from the cover design to the last moment of his search for hidden treasure in the King's Room. The book is of manageable size. has large print; the five chapters are not exhaustingly long. The illustrations are evocative for those who well know the countryside around Rome and inspiring for thoSe for whom it is a pleasure to come. I can well see a proprietary ten-year-old stumping away with 'My Book' under his arm.
The ingenious appearance of The King's Room is quite a joke. It is a little polished gem. It is impossible to fault for accuracy
either of the past or the modern Italian scene. It reads like a true story, though perhaps the last wonderful incident sounds almost too good to be true. Pipo, standing on her shoulders, and held up by old Maria, at last discovers her source of fortune and salvation left her by her old employer, the Princess, and hidden for her by the faithful shepherd Dino before the Germans armed to take over the beautiful but now mouldering and cat-ridden villa near Frascati. It has been well hidden and Maria is now so senile, she cannot remember clearly things that happened so long ago and in such a moment of terror. 'I didn't hide it there', Maria said slowly, 'because in a hall, people are always passing through'. They try the salon in vain. Maria hammers on her forehead with her closed fist, as Pipo had seen his father do with the telephone box when his metal token had got stuck inside. 'I can't remember. I can't remember.' At last 'I would hide it in the King's Room'. Maria said softly. 'That's where I would hide it, in the special room that was always ready for the King. It's on the top of the mirror, in the King's Room, a silver and gold crucifix, made in Florence, by someone called Cellini.
Can you get it down?' I don't know yet. I wish I were six inches taller!' We can't wait for you to grow ... '
The Befana's Toyshop is a Twelfth Night story by a favourite children's author who won the Hans Christian Andersen Award at Bologna this year. In his native land Signor Rodari's fun is as well known as that of Lewis Carroll in England. The Befana is a female edition of Father Christmas, according to herself 'nearly a baroness', and though ultimately benevolent, not all to be trifled with. She rides on a broomstick on Twelfth Night attended by her downtrodden maid, Teresa-, to distribute to suitable children the toys displayed in her wonderful store. Francesco, who is a very poor member of a large family and who gets steadily poorer, spends all his free time pressing his nose against that window. The toys get to know him and like him, and wish they could help him, for they are quite sure he is not going to get anything from the Befana this year. Luckily, the toys are no ordinary toys. Rag, the dog, leads them to find Francesco, who has, in fact, been taken away by the police. There is an important toy soldier. the General, and a sailor, Captain Halfbeard, and an Indian Chief, Silver Feather (who has cowboys with lassoes waiting for him) and the most splendid toy of all, the Blue Train, complete with rails and level-crossing and station-master, driver and guard. There is the Seated Pilot, in his aircraft, and a box of crayons, every colour full of personality, and a dozen dolls of which the Hawaiian never takes her eyes off the Seated Pilot. The Teddy Bear has a very small head for his size, and it is stuffed with sawdust, but although very shy he can dance. All these characters have their own views on how to find and help Francesco. In the end it is the Befana who 'wasn't such a bad old bird after all,' who got him out of the police station, and here she was, leading him through the streets, like an affectionate slightly severe old grandma. She never knew that all her toys had escaped to join Francesco. But she did know that the boy, intimidated by two of the worst gangsters of the town, who had made him crawl into her store-room, had refused to open up to them and had raised the alarm. The very happy ending is that Francesco and his now-widowed mother and all his brothers and sisters move in to protect the Befana s
shop, attended by Rag, who has become Francesco's own. But he is so much changed for the better that she does not recognise hint.
The Befana put her head out of the room behind the shop and peered over her glasses. "What has that wretch got to bark about?" she demanded. "He's happy, m'lady. He's happy to be alive. Isn't that right?" And Rag barked "Yup! Yup",'
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