NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17319, 3 December 1921, Page 7

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

CHILDREN IN ENGLISH VERSE. There have been many anthologies of verso for children, but we have known of no good anthology of verse about children, no collection which is a reasonably adequate representation of the purest colour in tho majestic tapestry of English poetry—tenderness for tho child. An attempt to repair this want lias been made by L. E. Woods in the "Hook of English Verse on Infancy and Childhood" which has been added to the Golden Treasury series. In the course of a short preface the compiler outlines very briefly the development of English poetry inspired by the love and wonder which childhood inspires in sensitive minds. This is a line of study which is worth development. The compiler of this charming anthology, however, aims only at making a garland of scattered blossoms which the wayfarer meets onlv now and then in his wandering through English letters. "Poems on childhood arc comparatively few in number," the compiler remarks, "and many of them are little known. They are scattered in manv volumes by many writers, and the light they throw on the most beautiful period of human life is thus lost to persons who arc interested in children but who are not regular readers of poetry." It may be doubted whether those who do not love poetry, and who are therefore not regular readers of it, will be able to appreciate moro than a little of the poetry in tins collection, but that lovo of children which is reverence tor childhood lias in our day become so general a duty and delijht that it is possible that this doubt may not bo justified. Beginning with thnjfifteenth century and that immortal carol of tho "Maiden Makeles," the compiler carries his survey to the present day. Like every nnthology that has been or ever will be made, this one omits many verses that ought to have been included, and includes a few which might have been dispensed with, and one does not nowadays complain of this. We take with gratitude what the industry of the compiler has given us, and in this case there is much cause for gratitude. To have over thrco hundred beautiful poems on infancy and childhood m one little book is a very great pleasure. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.). NOVELS. "Pandora's Young Men," for all its frivolity of title, can hardly be called a frivolous novel. Mr Frederick Watson, author of "The Humphries Touch,'' still demonstrates in this new book his capacity for being amusing in a rather recondite and serious way. He ' makes material of Ministers, permanent secretaries, and personal assistants, who unite to run a new department, "the Ministry of Recreation." Pandura herself holds an important post in the Department, with the result that quite twenty-two known and unknown mothers write agreeable letters to Pandora's mother, felicitating them«&lves on a son's engagement to this charming girl. For she invariably ( finds young men engaging. "'I hope you won't be shocked,' Pandora once , said intelligently to the vicar, being fourteen at the time, 'but what I should like so much, is an occasional husband.' Her hopes were dashed. The vicar was shocked." But, as the experienced mother learnt to explain to all concerned, "Pandora is,only half engaged. She is usually in that interesting condition." And the final destination of her heart remains cryptic, even to the last chapter. The Ministry of Recreation also has its trials, though it works oh the most\orthodox lilies in attempting to control the pleasures of the nation's leisure hours. In at last it is turned into a V; of Concentration," which advocates the ideal of more work and '.less play. But the book must be read for its .neat sketches. ,of character, and its concealed sarcasm, rather than for the matter of its plot. (London: W. Collins, Sons, and Go., Ltd.) '■■'.' "All-Wool Morrison," by Holman Day, treats chiefly of wool mills and water power. Those who read the book may also discover how far these things lire mixed up with American politics. It is one of those essentially businesslike American novels, which hardly Count as literature, and have an interest wholly alien to readers outside the United States. (New York and London: Harper and Brothers. Australia: -aielville and Mullen, Pty., Ltd.)

' "The Heretio," in J. Mills Whitham's novel of that name, is not a religious recusant. Raymon Verne is a cultivated, clever, and eccentric youth, with a genius for bone-setting, i and ft determination to exercise his gift precisely in his own way. As a heretic against conventional rules of healing, he refuses to qualify as a surgeon; though his "inechano-therapy'-' proves highly successful when he leaves the Exmoor farmhouse of his earlier years for the London circle brought round him by a half-disdainful half-admiring fcunt. "Never mind," she reasgures a * nephew quite unable to jjelieve that \ unprofessional success in town meant dinner-parties . withl the best people; "we'll have you practising in Mayfair, with or without degrees—certainly they won't tolerate you in Harley street—you'll be as rich as a fashionable crys-tal-gazer!" But the young heretio made the mistake of falling in love with the daughter of.an eminent surgeon, entirely opposed to bone-setters. So troubles came, and the daughter is made to marry a dissipated millionaire, instead of an honourable but unorthodox healer. And she commits suicide, and Verne returns to his . Moor, and it is all rather inconclusive and uncomfortable. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd.) A Japanese heroine is found on a Bapnan island beach, a waif washed up by the sea. Her beauty, and the romance of her unexplained appearance, 't appeals to the emotions of James 'Desart, a white settler amongst Ma- ' loyani and Papuans. Hence we have , > that story "of the South Seas and Lotus Land," which A. safroni-Mid- - dfeton has bailed "An Island Wooing." \lt is sometimes rather funny, when tbe little maid from Nippon discourses in flowery language, and the bewildered settler can only stammer out some commonplace in slang. But mystery, adventure, and passion have the chief place in the drama, which also takes to itself a tinge of .the occult, when the scene changes from fJhe-island to Japan, and and Desart both have to suffer many things in Shinto temples, under persecution from an agea Buddhist priest. Then comes the final tragedy, and we leave the remains of the two lovers and the priest peacefully interred in three large mortuary jars,' side by side, in the deep gloom of a temnle's sacred burial-cell. A. Safroni-Middleton attempts too much in this story, throws in far too much mixed material of all kinds, and often ruins an effect by over-emphasis,' turning "pathos to burlesque. With a little more exnerience in the selection of. incident, aiid more care for unity in treatment, the author should; produce some mute fjood adventure tales. (London: John Long, Ltd. 3s 6d.) The American "best sellers" are mostly rather tiresome folk, but for one of them, Joseph C. Lincoln, even the most austere person has a-kindly fueling. "Tlie ' .\la;niificent Mr Bangs, ; published in America as "Galusha f. the Magnificent," is the latest ot t Mr Lincoln's delightful Cape Cod, p stories.. The plan of the hook f- i»-*:BOund and amusing. Ga.usha I Bangs, an absent-minded and very &•■ unpractical and sweet-natured pro-

fessor, interested only in antiquities, goes to a Cape Cod town to restore his health, and he falls into the A?"!?. of a de lightful landlady, Miss Phipps. Despite his absurd incompetence, Galnsha very soon bocomes the rescuer of Miss Phipps and other pleasant people whoso Affairs are . m * snarl," and he winds up, as is right and proper, as the husband of the admirable Martha. Mr Lincoln's attractiveness consists in his simple style, his unaffected humour, and his unabated zest in drawing pictures of the many quaint characters of "the whom in this book he conducts through a thoroughly absorbing and even exciting episode in the life of \\ellmouth. (New York: Appleton. Melbourne: George Robertson, Ltd.).

One s opinion of modern English fiction is not greatlv strengthened bv kmmcline Morrison's "Good Grain," announced as the prize-winner in John Long's £SOO prize competition for -the best first novel, for which there were nearly 400 entries. The plot is far from new, and tho treatment of the characters is at best somewhat unconvincing. Geoffrey Trcmavne, middleaged, wealthy, good looking and the president of a society for the promotion of modern and classical music, discovers whilo visiting Cornwall an attractive fisher-boy,. Julian Cassilis, with a wonderful voice, adopts him, and undertakes to have him trained to hecome a great singer. The lad while staying in the country with the tutor Tremnyno has chosen for him, makes the acquaintance of and falls in love with Iris Stapleton, a very charming young girl who happens to be the only daughter of an old invalid friend of Tremayne's. Obviously Iris and Julian should have married, especially after a certain episode, and were on the point of doing so secretly when Mr Stapleton becomes dangerously ill, and Iris cannot leave home. Very soon after Stapleton dies, after inducing Iris to consent to marry his friend Tremayne. The marriage, as might be expected, is anything but a success. Tremaynn is dictatorial and jealous, end though, generous and good-hearted, never gives the faintest indication of being a lover as well as a husband. He is indeed a most unlovable person, and he and Iris make each other as miserable and unhappy as two people could well be. The fact that Trcmayno learns of the relations that once existed between his girl wife and his protege makes matters worse. The "happy ending' 1 is, however, stuck on to this story of marital infelicity. (London: John Long.).

Another unlovable individual is the chief character in Mr Herbert Jenkins's latest "Bindle" book. Bindle himself we have known and cherished for years as one of the most cheerfully amusing figures in modern fiction. In "Mrs Bindle" we meet his wife, who has appeared in some of the previous chronicles of Bindle. Closer acquaintance with the lady does nothing to remove the unpleasant impression she had created on these former occasions. She is a soured, vinegary woman, with a bitter tongue, and possessed of a narticularly venomous form of piety. Only a laughing philosopher like Bindte could 1 endure life with such a mate.' Every now 'and again, indeed, one catches glimpses of a really womnnlw, Mrs Bindle, but the reader is leftr wondering hard why Bindle ever married her and how lie manages to abstain from running away from her. (London: Herbert Jenkins, Ltd.). NOTES. A timeiy reminder of the approach of Christmas is furnished by tiie appearance of the "New Zealand Girls' Annual," wnich is fully up to the high standard of previous years. The -contents include a long girls' school story, some twenty or twenty-five short stories, mingled with some poetry and two or three articles, one of which describes a lady parachutist's adventures and another deals with Englisn girls in fiction. The book is lavishly illustrated and forms a very suitable gift for a young firf. (London, Oassell and Co.; Ohristchurch, L. M. Isitt, Ltd.). Equally likely to be chosen by parents for their boys is the "New Zealand Boys' Annual" issued by the same publishers. This volume is as good as earlier issues ind abounds in 'those wholesome stories of adventure which boys chiefly love There are included also some instructive and entertaining articles on various subjects, including a long paper, interestingly illustrated, on "The Pageant of Life" bv Sir H. H. Johnston, G.C.M.G. The "Annual" is full of good things, and is a treasurable volume. (London: Cassell. Christchurch: Simpson and Williana|, Ltd.).

Wo have received from the publishers, Messrs Evans Brothers, London, the first number of a new weekly paper "La France," published in French. It is a review of the French press for the tise of schools and young students of French. M. Briand contributes an article, and the. extracts from various newspapers include stones, sketches, verse, jokes,, sporting notes. and a miscellany. The little, paper ought to be useful in helping the Lower Fourth and higher forms to realise that French is a real language, and not an invention of schoolmasters for the torturing of the young.