YOUNG READERS

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28158, 22 December 1956, Page 3

YOUNG READERS

THE BOOK OF NONSENSE, by many authors; chosen and arranged by Roger Lancelyn Green (Dent. 266 pp.) is a new volume in the Children’s Illustrated Classics series. It contains all the most famous nonsense writers, as well as some unexpected contributors like Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Dr. Johnson, Swift and C. S. Lewis. And it is provided with a suitable "Introduction (with nonsense in it)” by the editor, discoursing on the difficulty critics have experienced in defining the difference between Nonsense and sheer Tommy Rot. He places Lewis Carroll first among nonsense writers, but since both the Alice stories form together a companion volume to this nonsense anthology, he only includes in this selection the Nonsense poems contained in them that are classics impossible to exclude—“Jabberwocky,” “The Walrus and the Carpenter” and “The Aged, Aged Man.” Carroll is further represented by “outlandish lyrics” from other sources, “The Hunting of the Snark” and many of his less well-known Letters from Wonderland and other miscellaneous prose. A large section of the book s also occupied, of course, by Edward Lear, who .contributes prose (“The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World”), nonsense songs—eight of his most celebrated and beloved—and 48 nonsense limericks. These two giants in nonsense are followed by selections from “The English Struwwelpeter,” nursery nonsense-rhymes from a variety of periods, miscellaneous “nonsense nuggets” which include even some old Greek nonsense rhymes, and the original version with only a few small cuts of Raspe’s “The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen”—a work which Walt Disney should surely make a full-length cartoon of. The book is filled with familiar gems, which will cause adults as well as children to exclaim with delighted cries of recognition. Who, for instance, can remember the date and author, but who has not heard the superb bit of nonsense which Mr Green places as Epilogue to his collection?:

So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage leaf to make an apple pie;, and at the same time a great she bear, coming up the street, pops its head into the shop: “What! no soap?” So he died, and she very imprudently married the Barber. And there were present the Picninnies, and the Joblillies, and the Garyalies, and the grand Panjandrum himself, with the little round button at top. And they all fell to playing the game of catch-as-catch-can, till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots. Samuel Foote (1755).

Not least of the pleasures of this book are the hundreds of contemporary illustrations by Tenniel, Lear, Furniss, Holiday, and others, and .the four colour plates by Charles Folkard. TOTEM, TIP, AND TUMPLINE, by Olive M. Fisher and C. L. Tyner (Dent. 264 pp.) shows that genuine and extensive knowledge of the Canadian Indian has gone into the making of this attractive book designed to appeal to children who want to know more about the actual life of the Indian than is to be found in “Wild West” books and films. It has at least one illustration on every page, and is filled with interesting facts and information. Young readers will learn about Indian weapons, dress, legends, songs (with actual music included), customs, arts and history: and something about how the Indian lives today as well as about how he lived before the coming of the white man. The book is serious but not heavy, and children of any age, from seven or eight on, should find it quite as engrossing as any fiction. William G. Crisp, who spent two years managing a Hudson Bay trading post in the mountains of British Columbia tells the story of a Canadian boy’s adventures in WHITE GOLD IN THE CASSIAR. (Dent.) While travelling to his father’s asbestos mine on the borders of the Yukon, Scott Haliburton meets and survives many dangerous incidents in a story which flows with adventure all the way. Those younger teenagers who enjoy historical novels will wish to read Rosemary Sutcliff’s latest book THE SHIELD RING (Oxford University Press). This time, the author has stepped away from Tudor England to the Lakes district in Norman Times. The story tells how even the resources of William I could not subdue the Vikings entrenched in their Cumberland stronghold. Illustrations by C. Walter Hodges match the high level which has placed the author among today’s best writers for children. With RESCUE BY BROOMSTICK (Dent) Lorna Wood has produced another successful piece of humorous fantasy for boys and girls up to 13 years. Readers will meet again Hag Dowsabel with her broomstick and the cat, Sooty Legs, in a series of adventures and a plot or two which leave plenty of room for imagination to have a free rein. How the Linley children plan to help their cousin Albert makes exciting reading for primary school children.

A nugget of gold, sealed letters, and a Mountie sergeant make the background for Arthur Catherall’s LAND UNDER THE WHITE ROBE (Dent). The. story develops as an exciting adventure among the big woods and wild life on the fringe of the Arctic Circle. Incidents follow with the speed which all boys enjoy, while the knowledge imparted about the wild life of the region makes the book much more than just an adventure story

Sutherland Ross, a teacher who writes books in his spare time, has penned a story of the English Civil War. VAGABOND TREASURE (Hodder and Stoughton) tells how in 1642, when England was in a state of rebellion and unrest. Sir Thomas Clifton could take the side of neither Cavalier nor Roundhead, but the looting of his friend's home decided him to take up arms for the King.

Edward Ardizzone’s stories about Tim are now among the well-known standard picture books. This latest one, TIM ALL ALONE (Oxford University Press) tells how Tim returns home from a long holiday to find his house locked up and nobody there, and of the many adventures that befall him on land and sea before he is reunited with his parents. The lonely and pathetic little figure of Tim is one which will be sure to engage the sympathy of four to seven year olds. The excitements and adventures of this simple little story are appropriate to this age of which Ardizzone has such intuitive understanding. The print is large and clear and the size of the book is easily manageable. The format gives full scope to the pictures which, with their soft colourings and unique style are sheer delight. THEODORE TURTLE, by Ellen MacGregor (Faber) is a gay and light-hearted picture book about a turtle who has the very “human” failing of finding one thing only to lose another. Every time he remembers where he had left one of these things—his rubbers, his newspaper, his alarm clock, his teapot, his axe and his garden hose —he says, “Wasn’t I clever to think of that!” His mind is a muddle, but the story moves on in an amusing progression of events, until he at last manages to get down town. The drawings by Paul Gadone in red, yellow, black and white are quite as funny as the story itself. It is very pleasant to receive a school story of the quality of CHORISTER’S CAKE, by William Mayne (0.U.P.). The rebellion of the central character, Peter Sandwell, against the rules and customs of the school, and the gradual acceptance of his own part as a chorister in the cathedral choir is the main theme of the book. There are no fat boys, no cheats, no cads, no first elevens and no tuck boxes. One feels instead that this is the way boys do behave towards one another in a school such as this, and when Peter is sent to Coventry by the others for his rebellious behaviour, his coming to terms with himself and his classmates is described with real insight. Preparations for a bonfire for the school’s Guy Fawkes’ Day celebrations are also part of the story out of which Peter emerges accepted again by his fellow choristers and glad to take his share in the full life of the choir and the school. There is much information about choral singing and the masters are presented as real people whose foibles are treated with tolerance and humour. The book should be particularly appreciated by those boys with a similar preparatory school background. THE LOST SHIP (Dent), by a Carnegie medal winner, Richard Armstrong, is particularly notable as a study in seamanship on board a schooner in the tricky Caribbean Sea. Two boys, Nick and Shorty, are unnoticed by their ship, the tanker Talara, as they fall by accident into the sea, but are soon picked up by the schooner Scud. It is manned by two toughs, Bull and Mac, and there is a passenger, a bespectacled and timid German. The boys quickly become suspicious of these three, and by daring attempts at eavesdropping gradually discover the purpose of the voyage in which they have become involved. With the help of the German, they are eventually able to outwit the other two, and after an exhausting passage in a tropical storm they are picked up by the Talara, and the whole episode is neatly rounded off. There is a nice balance of flippancy and fooling of the one boy, Shorty, against his more solid and thoughtful, if slower companion, Nick. Their cheerful ragging and lively slang keep the narrative flowing along, and if the other characters aboard the schooner are somewhat stereotyped, the technical information on sailing and the testing of the boys’ resources in riding out a storm should have a strong appeal to boys of 10 to 15.

THE GOLDEN STALLION TO THE RESCUE, by Rutherford G. Montgomery (Hodder and Stoughton.) is a book boys and girls from about 10 years will enjoy. The author writes from a sound background knowledge of the people and conditions of the American Rocky Mountain area and the result is an engrossing, instructive and quite credible adventure story. Many children will have already read the earlier “Golden Stallion” books and they will no doubt want to read this one too.

Leonard Wibberley knows how to weave an intricate and fascinating tale for his young readers. His new book THE SECRET OF THE HAWK (Faber and Faber) is set in the days of slave trading. The story begins in England when the young hero discovers an old slaver's very unpleasant secret. He also happens upon a mystery; exciting circumstances and a shift of location to Africa enable him to solve it. Back in England once more the book concludes in a most satisfactory manner. When Peter and Margot Furze, an English brother and sister, because of their mother's illness in London, are sent to Scotland for the summer, they do not realise what adventures this is going to lead them into. The story of their visit to the north is well told by Elizabeth Kyle in VISITORS FROM ENGLAND (Thomas Nelson). This is an excellent book which introduces young readers to many interesting characters in a small Scottish community. The English boy and girl are at first suspiciously received by the Scottish children but as they get to know and appreciate one another they form many close friendships. The story ends on a genuine note of adventure which will be appreciated by all imaginative boys and girls. Leslie Atkinson attractively illustrates the book.

With the rapidly increasing familiarity with the remoter parts of the world, writers for children are turning to the remoteness of historical times in the search for new themes to interest their readers. Rene Guillot has combined the two circumstances in this retelling of an old legend of India in THE ELEPHANTS OF SARGABAL (0.U.P.). After the boy Ajmil has been abandoned by the elephant hunters he served, he is taken to freedom by Itao, a leader of a little band of outcasts in the mountains above the jungles of Sargabal. From their hideout. Ajmil’s adventurous spirit leads him to Rajpur. where he becomes the saviour of the Princess Narayana in the sacking and defeat of that great city. When the time comes for her to regain the city she has lost, Ajmil brings the wild elephants of Sargabal to her aid and thus fulfils the destiny laid out for him. Guillot takes the reader right into the heart of the legend. The drama of violence and warfare is real, but never once loses the shadowy quality of the legend. The whole is like a tapestry that has come to life with the prince-like character of Ajmil always in the foreground. This is a most skilful piece of writing, ably translated by Gwen Marsh, and Felix Hoffman’s illustrations add to the distinction of this fine book.

It is a pity that Ivan Southall feels compelled to go on adding to the undistinguished Simon Black series. In this latest book, SIMON BLACK IN THE ANTARCTIC (Angus and Robertson), the comic-strip hero is called out on yet another mission which only he and his offsider, Alan Grant, are thought capable of accomplishing. Bona fide scientific Antarctic expeditions should be of sufficient interest to boys, particularly with the onset of the International Geophysical Year, without resort to a pseudo-scientific theme of the discovery of Neanderthal man in an Antarctic sub-temper-ate zone. The style is laboured, the dialogue unreal, and all characters are indistinguishable except by name. As the story palls, one becomes interested in the elegant variation of ‘‘he said.” Samples are: “he grunted, growled, rasped, groaned, breathed, barked, exhaled, squeaked, glared into space, then growled. ...” And is the favourite oath of Australian Air Force officers, “My sainted aunt?”