BOOKS FOR OLDER CHILDREN

It was a bit of luck for me that on the day that the post brought the parcel of twenty- three Books for Christmas there arrived also Mark, to spend the weekend with his grandmother. Mark is ten and intelligent. I called out to him that I was busy on the typewriter and would he go into the library and choose a couple of the books from London which I had stood up on the central bookcase shelf. He went off, and I discovered that the two that he had chosen were Dinosaurs Don't Die by Anne Coates, illustrated by John Lord (Longman Young Books 18s) and Diving Adventure by Willard Price, illustrated by Pat Marriott (Jonathan Cape 21s).

On Monday morning the books were back again. There was no doubt which had won his heart. Dinosaurs Don't Die had been enjoyed from cover to cover. His cousin Kevin would like it for Christmas. Dinosaurs are 'in'. The pictures are lively, the story gripping. Diving Adventure was, I think, a little too old for him. He has an uncle in Australia so knows about the Great Barrier Reef. It is certainly a good boy's thriller and has a classic villain, the Rev Merlin Kaggs.

1 was a little disappointed that he said at once of Antonia Fraser's King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (Sidgwick and Jackson 30s), 'I know that story'. I hope that a great many parents will, nevertheless, buy this book for Christmas. The pictures by Rebecca Fraser (aged twelve), especially the black and whites, are remarkable, and Antonia Fraser's text is so easy to read that nobody who opens this attractively produced book is likely to think for long that he has heard just this story before.

Mark has a sister, Julie, aged six. Her large blue eyes are full of wonder. She loves stories about Africa, I am told. I hope she comes up next weekend. But I fear she is a little too young for the lavishly illustrated African Tales of Magic and Mystery, retold by Maria Kosova. and Vladislav Stanovsky, with pictures by Karel Teissig (Hamlyn 21s). The many short stories seemed to me a trifle bloodthirsty. When the cruel stepmother cajoled Mvila to fall into a pit, and covered her with earth, Mvila's father slew his wife on his return from hunting before she had even had time to beg for mercy. It obviously would not have been of any avail if she had been allowed to speak but I felt the result must have made all present uneasy. Still. I remember finding no fault with the Brothers Grimm when they took to horror. I am quite sure Julie will love The Trumpet of the Swan. This is one more of the E. B. White wildlife and fantasy stories (Hamish Hamilton 25s). Edward Frascino's running commentary of illustrations never miss a dramatic moment, and there are many. Louis, the Trumpeter Swan without a voice is an absurd but lovable hero.

There are five agreeable books for older boys and girls. Apple Harvest is historical. Eileen Meyler tells the sad saga of Monmouth's ill-judged rebellion as it involved the picturesque and innocent village of Philips Norton. There is a memorable appearance of Charles ifs handsome, weakling son. The coming of William of Orange brings peace again to the ill-treated

Village.

The Children of Hermitage announces on the jacket that it is a reprint of an old favourite. The children are of the days when the British young, if their parents could afford it, wore a great many too many garments. Frances Eliza Crompton lived all her life in Cheshire, but she transferred the scene of these youthful memories to the Welsh border. She has been described as the Mrs Gaskell (in her Cranford vein) of late Victorian child life. She began her successful career as a contributor to the Monthly Packet, produced by the revered Charlotte Yonge. The Children of Hermitage was serialised in Little Folks in 1903 and now appears for the first time in book form (Macmillan 25s). I shall be interested to see how it does. I should myself guess that it is a little dated.

The nine children of Hermitage might have been described as high-spirited. There is no doubt that the two female grandchildren who were brought up at Colle were quite phenomenally skilful in thinking up how to get into unexpected mischief, Me and Nu, by Anne Gregory (Colin Smythe 25s) is a charming book, and Joyce Dennys's pictures are a delight. Anne Gregory describes what it was like to be the grandchildren of a famous literary Irish figure. Lady Gregory was born in 1882 and lived to be eighty. She was one of the founders of the Abbey Theatre and the cornerstone of the Irish Literary Movement. Amongst her many guests were W. B. Yeats, A. E., O'Casey, Synge and Augustus John. (The picture of G.B.S. with Me and Nu is an excellent likeness.) There can be no doubt that Lady Gregory was an extremely courageous as well as kind hostess.

When a friend (who is a contemporary) saw amongst the pile here a republished (and tactfully abridged by Olive Jones) book bearing the name of George Macdonald as author she exclaimed, 'How lovely! I remember begging my mother to read me, again and again, At the Back of the North Wind.' The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and the Curdie by George Macdonald (Collins Classics For Today series 21s) is illustrated by William Stubbs in a modern style, which, however suits it surprisingly well. It is, after all, a classic.

Five Bushel Farm by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Blackie 18s) is the second of the Sally Books, another story of early America and as crisp and wholesome as an apple.

On one of the very hot Sundays of this summer I went with a friend to take out a grandson from a preparatory school. As is the custom, he had been told to bring a friend. After an ample meal on the banks of the Thames I asked the friend 'Where is your home?' He twinkled at me. 'You guess.' I guessed, not very imaginatively. 'Penang' he announced smiling sweetly. And before that it was Nigeria. And before that Switzerland, for two years.' He looked ant sounded much much older than the grandson. 'I always,' he mentioned 'travel as an unescorted child. I like it.' I think that he would find something amongst my next seven books suited to his taste. Two of them are in the Time, Place and Action Series (Andre Deutsch, 24s. and 22s). Carry a Long Knife by Vera Cumberledge is set in Sussex and Hampshire, about AD 500 On the Trail of Long Tom is by W. T. Cutt and the curtain rises on Tom Findlater sailing from the Orkneys in 1883 to join his father in Canada. His mother had been an Indian of the Cree tribe.

The Albatross by Richard Armstrong (Dent 22s) opens with the discovery by a Dutch mail-boat, bound for Curacao of a raft with a boy of seventeen as sole occupant. (The author, who served in the Merchant Navy for seventeen years won the Carnegie Medal- with Sea Change in 1948.) Captain Crossiack and the Lost Penguin by Philippe Tayler (Collins 18s) takes us to sea again, but the sea of the Owl and the Pussy Cat and the Walrus and the Carpenter. Captain Crossjacket's crew included Felix, the Octopus and Dundee, the Mouse, and their search was for Web, the Penguin missing at the North Pole. A most humorous narrative is illustrated by the author.

An unusual thing, a very amusing`thriller, comes from Sweden The Invisible League and The Royal Guest is written by Gunnel Linde and translated by Anne Parker (Dent 22s). The Hidden Enemy by Michael Hardcastle (Epworth Press 12s) is also a thriller, but with an unusual setting—an army Boys' Unit in Dorset. Roger Todburn, aged fifteen, disappears. His friend Bryan Tapsell surprises the kidnapper's hideout. The Rebel of Rhada is a science fiction novel by Robert Gilman. It is a story of men in space 10,000 years hence. Kier, the war- leader of Rhada is summoned to the Imperial court on the planet Earth. He foresees treachery, but not the downfall of the Emperor. He escapes with the beautiful Princess Ariane and succeeds in keeping the Second Stellar Empire united (Gollancz 20s).

I have only one dog book. Patch, by Helen Griffiths (Hutchinson 16s) had nothing humdrum about him. Born in Mallorca of a mongrel mother, he came to be the joy and the bane of an English boy who, however, had to return to England. The prospect of becoming a film star is nearly the end of Patch. Young Winter's Tales is a little book containing something for everyone. There are nine short stories and nine .poems by different authors. It is edited by M. R. Hodgkin (Macmillan 30s).

Two publications by Faber, of a very different stature, end this Christmas list. The Coming of the Kings by Ted Hughes (Faber 9s) is a paperback containing four short plays originally written for broadcasting. The first of these, which gives its name to the book, would make an effective Christmas entertainment. The Faber Book of Children's Songs, selected and arranged by Donald Mitchell and Roderick Bliss and illustrated by Errol Le Cain is all that an admirer of this series will expect. The sixty- six songs cover a very wide range and the piano accompaniments are intended for use at home or in school (Faber 50s).

P.S. I was wrong about Julie. She came up tonight. She is seven and reads well. She was enchanted by African Tales of Magic and Mystery and would like it for Christmas.

Carola Oman