Children's Bookshelf

New Zealand Listener, Volume 22, Issue 548, 23 December 1949, Page 14

Children's Bookshelf

EW better Christmas presents for children can be found than well-written and well-illus-trated books, and once again the bookshops are stocking up with reading for children of all ages. Some of the new publications are reviewed briefly here, Information is made readable and facts and figures are inserted guilefully in The Young Traveller in New Zealand, by Hilda M. Harrop (Phoenix House, London. English price, 7/6). It belongs to a series intended for readers between the ages of 12 and 15. Mrs. Harrop, who brought her two Englishborn children to New Zealand for a trip which seemed to be comprehensive, and which must certainly have been enjoyable, gives ‘the story a personal tone. The young visitors ask many questions, and the answers (slightly revised, no doubt, for the purposes of authorship) are made to reveal the country’s background and history. There are some factual inaccuracies (Sir George Grey, for instance, was not the first Governor of New-Zealand), but it may be captious to look for occasional errors when almost every page is full of information. The writing is bright and easy, and there are some good illustrations. Another book in the same series is The Young Traveller in India and Pakistan, by Geoffrey Trease, in which the two children of a British cameraman travel through the continent with their father as he makes a documentary film about its inhabitants. Once again a wealth of information is presented in a bright and lively manner as the children talk about the things they see and are told concerning the two newest Dominions. A timely arrival on the juvenile booklist is a splendidly printed and illustrated edition of that old favourite The Swiss Family Robinson (Oxford Press, English price, 8/6). Eight excellent colourplates celebrate the more exciting moments in the adventures of the fabulous family on their even more fabulous island, and many black and white illustrations of equally good quality appear throughout the 400-odd pages. ESPECIALLY FOR BOYS . APVENTURE is combined with factual information about fitting out, navigating, and sailing a small vessel in Dauntless and the Mary Baines, by Peter Dawlish (Oxford University Press. English price, 8/6). The Dauntless is a real ship, although that is not her name,

and the story describes how her young crew members track down the person responsible for a dastardly wreck, Suitable for boys in the same age group (10-15) are three stories of adventure in Africa, also from the Oxford Press. Bulldozer Brown in Africa (by Steven Russell, English price, 6/-), is @ conventional boys’ story in the B.O.P, or Chums

tradition. Rather better in quality is Trant of Makati (by Wilfrid Robertson, also 6/-), which is a variation on the Sanders-of-the-River theme, and obviously written by one who knows something of the country. The pick of the trio, however, is Blue Smoke (by Y. M. Robinson,’ 7/6), the entertaining story of a small boy’s trip to Rhodesia. This is a well-written yarn, excellently illustrated in black and white by Wyndham Robinson, and just the thing for nine-year-olds and upwards. For boys with engines in their souls (and most boys wouldn’t be boys if they hadn’t), The Complete Book of Motorcars, Railways, Ships and Aeroplanes (Qdhams Press), with 380 pages of photographs, diagrams and explanatory text is as safe an investment as any uncle or father could make. Mary Treadgold tells a good story full of mystery and excitement in The Polly Harris (Jonathan Cape, London); and she writes prose of a quality seldom found in juvenile fiction, Children may absorb the richer phrases without noticing them; but they will follow with deep attention the events which reach their climax on a ship sliding through fog on the Thames, FOR YOUNGER READERS BOOK that makes nature study fascinating and entertaining is Yafflewood, a Village Nature Book by C. J. Kaberry (Geoffrey Cumberlege: Oxford University Press. English price, 7/6). Intended for children aged 8-11, Yafflewood combines first-class illustrations with an informative text, although some of the birds and flowers described are found only in England. Children and parents who discovered the unusual quality of H, J, Kaeser’s Mimff, the story of a boy who could not be afraid, will be delighted to hear that a sequel, Mimff in Charge (Geoffrey Cumberlege: Oxford University Press. English price, 8/6), has now been published. As in the first book, there are illustrations. in colour by Edward Ardizzone, Trade was bad in Wild Wood when Elver Eel returned from the West Indies, and Frog, Vole, Carp, and Captain Pike fell in with his plans te brighten the place up. But trouble was in store, as all readers of Dorothy Clewes’s fantasy will discover. The Fair in Wild Wood (Faber and Faber. y ish price, 7/6) is the latest in the Muthor’s Wild Wood series, and should appeal to children aged 6-10,

The appearance of a new Dr. Dolittle book, Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake (Jonathan Cape, London), is an event to be noted with satisfaction. Hugh Lofting has been writing these stories for a long time, but he keeps the magic touch. Children of most ages will want to go with the Doctor on his latest ex-pedition-this time (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) in search of Mudface the Turtle, "who lived before the Flood." Spike the hedgehog searches for his lost master in The Idle Gardener, by Frances Berrill, another book from the Oxford University Press (English price, 6/-), intended for children aged 6-10. All the other creatures of the garden come into the story before the gardener is found, and the text is well illustrated in black and white and colour. Bear, Goat, Owl and Ostrich have another series of adventures in the sunny forest in Back to the Marble Mountain (Oxford University Press. English price, 6/-), the second of an animal series by Hugh Gardner. Children aged 6 to 10 should like the gaiety and zest of the story, with its whimsical illustrations by Kiddell-Monroe. For parents who can afford the best in book production for their very small children nothing could be better than Winkie the Grey Squirrel, by Albra Pratten (Oxford University Press. English price, 6/-). Delightful colour illustrations enliven the story of a pet squirrel and his adventures with the family who bring him up from babyhood. A very amusing story is told in The Educated Pig, written and drawn by Monica Walker (Oxford University Press. English price, 5/-). Pig goes to school, wins a scholarship to Oxbridge University, has his life story filmed and sees the sights of London before returning in homesickness to the farm where he was born. . Two new publications in a series of excellent cheap readers for very young

children are The Red House and Camp- ) ing Out, both written by Gertrude Keir and illustrated in colour by Carolin Jackson (Oxford University Press. English price, 1/6). A EE