BOOKS—NEW AND OLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 152, 23 December 1911, Page 10 (Supplement)

BOOKS—NEW AND OLD.

(liy James Wovllov).

CHRISTMAS HOOKS FOR CHILDREN OF F]l<T Y YEARS A(JO. Tim thoughts of a bookman turn at this season of the year to the particular attractions which the bookshops present, and. Hie most prominent of these are the children's books. Looking round my study as I. write, my eye catches a little group of children's' illustrated* and annuals of the 'forties, 'llfties and 'sixties. It is a long call from these to the hand- ' some "Chums" and "IJoys' Own Paper" of recent years. Still, some of tlieiu were attractive in matter, if not in get-up. The volume for .l'So!) of the Boys' Own Magazine I);t.s sections for science and charades, games and historical tales, stories introducing in an attractive style a good ileal about the United States and a little of Australia. There arc poerns by Macauley and Byron. A ([notation from Tennyson heads a chapter on manly exercises. The illustrations are poor, and would not do credit to a patent medicine almanac of to-day. Of quite a different nature is another annual for 18ti0 the Children's 'Friend, The editor ought surely to have "sung himself away to realms of everlasting bliss" ere ever* he had introduced such a book- for the little ones. Here are a few typical headings—"Tho poor heathens have got souls"; "Tho (lospel as preached to a dying boy"; "Feel for others"; "How do you pray?"; '-Disobedience." What a drab-colored world it must have been for children whose books of "entertainment" were such! Among the stories were some good editions, illustrated by wood cuts, of Robinson Crusoe, Arabian Nights, Gulliver's Travels, etc. A particularly bright book after the style of Ethel Turner's was "Sunny Days,'" and "Mn Haven't Time's" adventures on his European tour were so well written that the grandchildren of its original ow| ier are never tire dof hearing them. But the luxurious editions of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" were somewhat less dreamed of than our modern Dreadnoughts and airships. NEW NOVELS. The autumn announcements have good j news for novel readers. Prolific as many writers are, it is a long time since we such a splendid batch forward for Christmas. Here are a few that our gourmands will feel compelled to devour: —"Peter and Wendy," by J. M. Barrie; The Better Man," by Cyrus Townsend Brady; "Mother Carey," by Alice Hegan Rice; "Fox Farm," by" Warwick Deeping; Ships Company," by W. \Y. Jacobs; "Poppies in the Corn," by Madame Albanesi; "The Challenge," by Harold Begbie; "The Ne'er-do-well," by Rex Reach. ""Ship's Company," by W. W. Jacobs. (London, New York and Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton). Jacob's bargemen of the Thames never pall upon us, and in this volume of short stories Mr. Jacobs is at his best. The opening sentences of "Fine Feathers" give us a foretaste of the fund and quality of humor to expect throughout the book. Here they are: "Mr. Jobson awoke with a Nundayish feeling, probably due to the fact 'that it was Bank Holiday. He had been aware, in a t*jm fashion, of the rising of Mrs. Jobson some time before, and in a semi-conscious condition had taken over a large slice of unoccupied territory. He stretched himself iuwl yawned . . . reached for his trousers. . . . JJ ( . Jiad hung them there the night before, and every night for twenty years. 011 tho brass knob on his side of the bed l , and now they had absconded with a pair of braces in their teens." Whether wo laugh with Mr. Jobson at Mrs. Jobson, or with Mrs. .Tobson at Mr. Jobson, we shall nevertheless laugh, and all the time, [f laughter docth good like medicine, we shall indeed i.e very lit. Among so many good \ arns one cannot make distinctions, but Skilled Assistance"' takes my fancy most, reminding oik; of "Many Cargoes."

*"Thc Visionvng," by Susan Glaspcll. I New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company).

Of the books which are not published in London, we seem to hear little of in the UMial channels where one looks for iniormat ion. It was therefore quite by accident 1 came across this one. The writer i> aLo mi-known to me, but, 1 venture to predict I,hat Susan Olaspell "ill attain to threat popularity among I'»'ili-!| readers if the standard reached by her m "The Yisioning" is maintained. 1 he hook is not typically American, but might have been written in any eounIry by any person' having die'insight to comprehend, and the love to re-build, and the art to depict the rc-lmildin<! of character (bat we here lind. Katie •'ones is an army girl -not the Salvation Army, but of the select blue-blooded to!!-., who are born and live, and marry and die. in the olliceiV quarters of the barrack unvns of Ihe United States, t udi'i' quite prosaic eirciimslunces she rescues a chorus girl--(heneefori h called Ann Forrest-—{'mm committing suicide. Katie takeM Ann to her own home, in much ihe same spirit that one would lake home a. wounded kitten ;un\ ciini for it. unfolding Urn Motion and. re-action of the girl's personalities, one upon the other, we incidentally learn much of a phase, of American iife among a section of the army folk, which one feels is a faithfully-drawn picture, lint more than all the reader will get a new perspective of life- written by one who Jms entered into the full zest of living "Tin- books reviewed have been kindly supplied by Messrs Brooker and Keig.