CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 75, 21 December 1907, Page 11

CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS BOOKS.

llobbcr knights and wizards, avenging goddesses, modern philanthropists, birds that ■ talked, and butterflies, tho cruelties of • king Cambysos,;'the .enchantments'! of-the Arabians, Claverhmisej .and!.' dolly" stories" good littlo boys, and. bad. littlo girls,.l. ]iavo spoilt tho morning with them"all,-and' my brain is in such a whirl that . I am wondering what'sort of dreams tho littlo readers will havo on Christmas night, when they havq reifd somo of tho books showered on . them ..by rplations with literary tendencies, ; Thoro is no doubt .that. : ;.<•/.•••/ i children's books-are .of a far ... J moro literary .flavour 1 than wore say five or six years ago. A .good deal of . rubbish is still .published. that" was : hero years ago.. Books that were.-the scorn of my childish days are 'being republished for the scorn of the.. 'children of to-day, hut .!. think they ; ... are mostly old books. I,do not think new rubbish is. coming to ;hand . at . '.the • . samo rate, or .if so, it for- ; tunatoly does , not. scorn , to . como to New Zoaland. Tho writors.of girls' books : aro tho worst offenders, and 0110 can confidently look each year for throe,;* or perhaps oven six, new books from one hand, practised in writing .weak untruthful stuff. 'l'heso books aro usually bound- in a showy fashion with cheap - illustrations. They aro to be avoided. Olio book ,1 noticed that any girl would love was Edna Lyall's "In tho Golden Days," aii ideal book for a young girl. ' / _ •••' ; • ...But this is about children's books, and tho . most striking', thing about them ::to-day.. is; tho way that tho treasuries of tho world's literature, and tho world's history have been ransacked for stories that will interest and amuse, tho children. Tho idea is no longer to let tho children have their meals'iii tho nursery, but to let them sharo'-with the grown-ups,' and to-this 'end tho 'works.'of classic tho " sagas, modern poetry and famous fiction havo been laid under contribution. " Tho' choico has not always been wisely made.' .Not everything written about children has been written for children, and it is with a fooling of shock that l ono comes across tales of almost unspeakable horror; in tho "Herodotus Told to tho Children." Dickens again wroto of, children, but jt was. to adults that', ho told the story of wrongs dono to child life, and his stories aro not best fitted for children thomsolvcs to read. ■For the rest, I havo found somo .most, delightful books in the "Told to tho Children," scries. Tho tales from- Phftarch 'aro well chosen and splendidly told,: there aro four, tho stories of Theseus, Romulus, Fabius, and Alcibiades.. Then thero' aro tales, from Wavorley that I found moro readablo' thaii tho books from which they nro taken. In the biographies I camo across a delightful lifo of Abraham Lincoln, and tho others in tho sumo series aro, it is to bo supposed, equally good. Thero aro various editions of tho Now Testament with oxcollent coloured illustrations .that _would• mako them a joy to any . child. Grimm and Anderson hold prido of placo as tellors of fairy tales, but I think Anderson is. perhaps moro.appreciated by adults than by tho children who lovo tho sensationalism and colour, tho palaces and castles of tho German tales,, against which tho moro poetical but moro domostic stories of Anderson seem tamo, and colourless. For those who have tlieso old favourites and .want more, Andrew Lang in his exquisitely illustrated fairy books, which go by tho names of J3luo, and Green, and Violet, and half-a-dozen otlior colours, has provided an ample storo of tales culled from European and Asiatic sources, and for tho samo price, I forget what it is, but tieliovo it is ,soveral shillings, one can got his llb--maneo:serios, or Truo Talcs, all of which aro well worth buying. , Thero aro some 'now. books for young naturalists, readablo and- well illustrated, and tlion thoro aro tho familiar minimis where ono may easily bo lost. ■ "Little Folks" is tho most attractive in appearance with its beautiful pawr and printing, its

fine,illustrations,' and its stories to suit children of all ages and all tastes. I eu:ifess I spent a long timo oror "Littlo Folks." But, "Sunday,", another old favourite, has improved amazingly. It is not so childish as it used to he, and this year comos out with a varied assortment of tales, articles, and at least one excellent serial story of adventure. It is strange how these .annuals keep to their old stylo. "Chatterbox" is produced now in the

stylo its earliest numbers, and-the printlug ,a'hd'.illustrations .have to-day ;i 'qu.-uni look, biit tho reading matter is bettor than its get-up' would lead ono to imagine, and '■'Chatterbox" is a book to recommend to tho harrassed auntie or iihclo choosing books in' tho dark. ' - ' Among tho books for smaller children are thoso of tho "Little Black Sambo" scries, to which soveral additions have been made,, and iii another series there is a delightful variation-of the "Threo Bears." In tho new talp it is' Little Bear who breaks into a■■human habitation and behaves in a niost

scandalous fasjiion, , fortunately V retrieving his character iir the ond, when we arc told ho is a geiitloman." The illustrations to this aro particularly good. Those who can resist tho charms.of this book will, cortainly never bo ablo to pass E. V. Lucas's story for tiny childron in tho same series. It is called "The Doll Doctor," and it is safo to prophesy that for many Christmasses to como this will, be ono of the most popular of children's books. Last and best of all is Nelson's shilling edition of Buskin's "King of tho Golden River," which contains aswoH tho story of King Midas told charmingly as a child's fairy story, but without tho talking down that mnkes Hawthorne's Greek stories for children so irritating. If tho Christmas books for adults', are as good,as these they may bo satisfior''