7 NOVEMBER 1903, Page 8

Littledom Castle, and other Tales. By Mrs. M. H. Spielmatm.

(Rontledge and Sons. 5s.)—We have said our say about modern fairy-tales again and again. Whatever their merits—and Mrs. Spielmann's work may fairly be credited with a good share of desert—they lack both the sincerity and simplicity of the old folk-tale. And then there are the illustrations. Of their value there can be no doubt ; various famous and skilful pencils have been at work on them, and they are good to look at. But then they are comic, and the true fairy-story is not comic.