NEW BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1091, 1 April 1911, Page 9

NEW BOOKS.

"The Magic City," by E. Nosb.it, ! author of "The AVould-be Goods," "The Amulet," etc., etc. Macmillan and Co. s All the cities and houses that Philip' (and other children) ever built are in a magic country and the builders can go there when they arc too sound asleep to dream. Whether the cities get big or the visitors get small is an unanswered question, but, of course, it comes to the same thing either way. All the people who helped to make the bricks, :books, dominoes, candlesticks and other ;things that were used in building tho fcities, and all the Noah's Ark people, •lead soldiers and dolls that were put in by,the builders, lead active and interesting lives in these magic cities. All this is set out, and explained as much as need be, in tho latest of the round dozen of children's books that have come from tho skilful and pleasant pen of Mrs. ! Nesbit. "Tho Magic City" is certain to be a favourite with young people, and this partly bocauso it.so thoroughly and consistently adopts the child's point of view. And this, while it makes the book interesting to children, makes it instructive to their parents and guardians. It should, therefore, have a large circle of readers. Jlr. H. R. Millar's numerous and clever illustrations in black and white are thoroughly inaccord with tho spirit of the story. "The Transit of Souls." By John H. : Willpicr. Long's Colonial Library. An Indian fakir cause tho souls of the, Nawab Amir and Charlie Beeton to exchange bodies. Consequently, the; ap-; parent .Amir astonishes his .wife and servants by.acting like an Englishman, while the supposed Beeton displays,tho cruelty arid selfishness of the Nawab. Here is line material for a sensational novel with gorgeous eastern setting and endless possibilities of mystification: or it might bq worked up into a philosophical rMiW.ee, wherein the methods of f^ctidif-should- seem to., gjvc reality .and J.to/ psychical'- problems; 1 tint' 1 Sir. AYillnior has not made tho most of his material in either of' these ways,' 'or in any-other way. He lacks tho intellectual power; "the imaginative energy; and the mastery of language for any but a quite inadequate telling of tho story ho has- taken in hand. So far as : this particular book is concerned, its shortcomings are not much to ho regretted, becau'so the exchange of souls, or bodies, is a sort of transaction which docs not come within ordinary experience, and is not to be encouraged. "Colden Days in Many Lands," by Winifred H. Leys. Methuen and Co., Ltd.-, London. -, . ; The authoress is an Auckland lady, arid her book describes very pleasantly a trip-to many countries. In plain, conventional English, without recourse to tho stilted languago that new writers who view great world sights for tho first time are rather apt to .'adopt, she tells very effectively of the places sho has seen and the story-each has to tell. There is 110 suggestion of a burdensome use of guide-book facts. Tho writer, in the courso of her trip, "did" the chief tourist sights of the United Kingdom, tho llhino Valley, Geneva, the Riviera, and parts of Italy, then touched Holland, afterwards went to Egypt, and the Holy Land, traversed a portion of India, the United States, and returned to her New Zealand homo via the Islands. Her experiences were those the average tourist would expect to see, and her book is the story of the various places as they would be told by competent guides. Hero and there pleasant little incidents of travel aro inserted, though no weary pages are.devoted to uninteresting matter. The scenes change rapidly. It is a book of travel that will undoubtedly hold the reader, with its easy narrative. It also has a good index, and a feature which must not be overlooked is tho large number of excellent photographic illustrations.