FOR YOUNG READERS

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26605, 15 December 1951, Page 3

FOR YOUNG READERS

Hans van der Meer’s exciting and unusual adventures in the wilderness of the Ceylon jungle more than 250 years ago are told in WHERE THE WHITE SAMBHUR ROAMS, by Richard L. Spittel. (Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd. 255 pp.) Hans, a boy from the Dutch town of Arnhqm, goes to sea with the East India Company, is cast away on the island, and leads a Mowgli-like existence, living on fruit, honeycombs, yams, and buffalo milk. He makes friends with an elephant, a black leopard, a monkey, and a mongoose, and is accepted by the fierce, primitive jungle tribe of Veddas. His friendship with the magnificent white sambhur deer which roams the jungle leads to his capture by the Sinhalese King’s hunters. He is condemned to death, but his life r saved in a way which will satisfy all young readers. Willard Price is an American traveller and writer who has based AMAZON ADVENTURE (Jonathan Cape. 256 pp.) on an exciting journey down the Amazon in his own experience. His heroes are Hal and Roger Hunt father collects animals, reptiles, and birds for zoos. Hal and Roger are left to their own resources when Mr Hunt has to return to the United States. They sail up the river into the country of the headhunters, capture a vampire bat, a boa constrictor, an iguana, an electric eel, and a giant ant bear, and bring their Noah’s Ark raft safely to civilisation, coping successfully with hostile Indians, wild animals, a raging flood, and the gang headed by the villainous Croc. Mr Price knows his Amazon and his animals, and how to write for boys of 12 and older. They will look forward to_the promised adventures of Hal and Roger in the South Seas.

THE SECRET FORTRESS, by Joyce Reason (J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., 263 pp.) was first published five years ago. It is an exciting tale of the dangerous days when the Normans were trying to conquer Cumberland and is a skilful mixture of fact and fiction, which 12 and 13-year-olds will enjoy. They may not appreciate fully the author’s brilliant reconstruction of the period, but there is no dull history in the story told by young Osric. son of the great thane, Torfinn, who fights beside the dalesmen in defence of the fortress valley of Borg Dale, and takes part in the storming of the famous castle of Richmond. The new addition is finely illustrated by S. Van Abbe with many line drawings and a frontispiece in colour. CORAL SEA ADVENTURE (Heinemann. 187 pp.), by Dale Collins, with illustrations by M. Brailey, is a story of discovery and adventure among the coral islands off the coast of Northern Australia. Two boys, twin-brothers, go cruising with a grown-up cousin who has won a fortune and spent it on buying a yacht named “Endeavour the Second,” an exact copy of the vessel in which Captain Cook first explored these same seas. All young readers will enjoy this lively account of the beauties and dangers of the tropical islands.

THE DOG-LEG GARDEN (Oxford University Press. 231 pp.), by Dorothea Street, with illustrations by Evelyn Cooke, is a third story twins. This time the adventures are restrained in tone, for they all take place in a garden. The twins’ father gives them the present of a garden shaped like a dog’s leg, and a surprising

amount of fun and interest is derived from this acquisition. Any boy or girl in the 9-11 age group who is fond of gardening and a well-told story will enjoy this book, which parents may find preferable to many a more romantic fantasy.

r Somerset Maugham, speaking before ■ the National Book League in London: ■ “People sometimes want to adopt the • profession of letters because they think ’ it is an easy way to make money. - They are grossly mistaken. A plumber ' or an electrician can make a better and ? steadier income than all but a few ; authors and he enjoys, moreover, the ; respect of the community. ...” Mr L Maugham was not. obviously, speaking ; of his fellow countryman, Daphne du ’ Maurier, whose newest novel. “My ’ Cousin Rachael,” was sold to the * “Ladies Home Journal” for 60,000 dollars. What with’ the present tax rate in England on high incomes. Miss du , Maurier’s net from this sale would be less than 1000 dollars! But wait: a trust fund, set up in the name of her daughter, legally enables a much larger share of royalties to be retained.