MORE BOOKS IN THE CHILDREN’S SPRING COLLECTION

Press, Volume C, Issue 29602, 26 August 1961, Page 3

MORE BOOKS IN THE CHILDREN’S SPRING COLLECTION

The LOOK books: PUPPETS, by Ann Hogarth (92 pp.). ROADS, by David Le Roi (95 pp.). CASTLES, by Alfred Duggan (96 pp.). PONIES, by Pamela MacGregor Morris (95 pp ). Published by Hamish Hamilton.

This is a non-fiction series especially designed for the young child who is beginning to read for himself. Attractively produced with large, clear print .and good illustrations which amplify and extend the subject matter, these books are authoritatively written and are a great improvement on the old school reader.

Ann Hogarth, the creator of Muffin the Mule, has written a most comprehensive little book on puppets. She first discusses the different kinds of puppets: marionettes, glove puppets, rod puppets and shadow puppets, then goes on to explain how they work, gives the history of puppet making and the traditional puppets of Europe, describes some famous puppet theatres and their programmes and finishes up by talking about puppets on television. There is also a list of other books about puppets at the end of the book. David Le Roi’s book is an informative and clear account of the development of British roads since Roman times. The structure of the three classes of Roman roads is , described and illustrated and there are maps showing the networks of the Stone Age tracks and the Roman highways. Mr Le Roi outlines the work of Telford and Mac Adam, the first good road engineers since the Romans and describes how modern highways are built to allow for the increasing volume of fast moving traffic. There are plenty of drawings to illustrate points in the text. It is an excellent little book on road transport, its history and development. Alfred Duggan, who is a historical novelist of distinction, takes the young reader on a tour of some of Britain’s great castles. With the help of Raymond Briggs’ excellent illustrations, he show's how they were built, how they were attacked in times of siege and how they were defended. It is well written and illuminating background historical material. Pamela MacGregor-Morris explains exactly what a pony is, how to look after it. how to buy one, describes the gear required and discusses the value of pony clubs. It is written for English readers, but there is enough of general interest to make it useful for New Zealand readers. It is very practical and has many helpful illustrations. Nine to 11-year-old girls who want a horse of their own will find this a very useful little handbook.

SUSAN, BILL AND THE PIRATES BOLD, by Malcolm Saville (Nelson, 117 pp.) is the eighth book about Susan, . Bill and their friends. In this (story, they are on holiday at ; the seaside town where they (help in a carnival which is ibeing organised by the local jrector to raise fluids for re- ; pairs to the church. There is | the usual cops-and-robbers theme introduced and this the children manage to solve, as usual, practically singlehanded.

FLOWERING SPRING by Elfrida Vipont (Oxford University Press, 199 pp.) is her fourth book about the Haverard family. The theme, a favourite of Elfrida Vipont’s, is that of difficult talented adolescence and the problems of ' the ambitious young artisf struggling, with little encouragement, towards fulfilment. Elfrida Vipont is particularly good on the problem of youthful conceit and the coming to terms with failure. Her message is that no-one can achieve success in her chosen field unless he is prepared to work and to work 'hard. For those “ girls unfamiliar with the previous books about the Haverard family, the general assembly of characters at the beginning may be somewhat confusing. They will find, if they want to be put in the picture, of course, that the other books in the series are well worth reading.

THE ROUNDABOUT BY THE SEA by John Walsh (Oxford University Press, 70 pp,) is a collection of poems about everyday things—seaside holidays, train journeys, boating, bus trips, blackberrying, schooldays and pets. They are all simple and unaffected. Mr Walsh writes fluently, though this fluency occasionally degenerates to flatness and doggerel. Nevertheless, there are some charming poems here and this collection will give pleasure to many. Some of the poems have already been broadcast by the 8.8. C. in their programmes for schools. Frederick H. Wiseman’s latest story for boys, DOUBLE DANGER (Nelson, 110 pp.), moves in and out of film studios around London, and this part of the book is original. But the plot, which turns on the likeness of a young actor to the prince of a kingdom in the Middle East, an Arab state called Kashania, runs along fairly obvious lines. “Double Danger” would probably appeal to boys at the standard four level.

THE BOOK OF FLAGS, by Vice-Admiral Gordon Campbell and I. O. Evans, 4th edition (Oxford University Press, 116 pp.) remains the established authority in this field, and a standard reference work. Though this book does not aim at completeness, only at describing the more notable and interesting flags, it is. nevertheless, exhaustive and up-to-date for the year of its publication, 1960. It aims also at explaining what makes flags notable and interesting, how they express the ideals and traditions of their respective lands. Some of the flags discussed include those of the armed forces, the merchant navy, official and civic flags, flags of the Commonwealth and many other parts of the’ world. There are three appendices and a comprehensive index. Heraldry, of which flags are a part, has been called the “shorthand of history” and is a topic full of fascination. This book would fill an extremely useful role in the school library and fortunate indeed the boy who is lucky enough to receive this handsome book as a gift ft

THE BIBLE STORY WITH LIVING PICTURES, by the Rev. Ralph Kirby (Odlhams Press, 320 pp.), is a retelling in a Style which is pedestrian and which gains colour only from the actual extracts taken from the Bible itself. The main trouble is that the .author has not defined his audience clearly enough for it is never at any time certain for which age group this book is intended. It is divided into four parts; the first covers the Old Testament, the second, the New Testa-' ment, the third tells the early history of the Christian Church and the final section describes the everyday life of the people of the Holy Land. Mr Kirby acknowledges the help and advice 'of wellknown religious. authorities and his text, therefore, can be said to be reliable. He does, however, intend its appeal to rely mainly on the pictures which are almost all photographs from the film studios of Hollywood, in the hope that “the stories will come alive and the world of the Bible becomes as real to the reader as his own world and its people as familiar as his friends.” This mingling of Hollywood and the Holy may not be to everybody’s taste. TUBBY TED by Ursula Hourihane (Hodder and Stoughton, Brock Books series, 92 pp.) is a collection of stories for the five to eight-year-old group, about a little bear who lives in a caravan, and his old horse, Mr Nogs, who pulls it around for him.'Together they make pancakes, have a holiday by the sea, collect flowers and fruit for a stall, help a squirrel collect nuts and have a bonfire for their friends of the fields on Guy Eawke’s night. There is warmth and kindliness in these little stories and not a little humour. They are popular on 8.8. C. Children’s Hour programmes.

GOING CONCERN (Nelson, 111 pp.), follows rather old-fashioned, conventional lines. Ikip Brabazon is the best cricketer at Ranchester but a natural outlaw, as well. He is also the heir to a vast fortune, provided he stays at school till he is 18. As might be expected, he breaks bounds for a dare, is caught by the authorities and expelled. To saye the fortune he has to go to the only school that will accept him—the shabby, almost derelict St. Alfred's. St. Alfred’s presents a challenge, which Skip meets with conspicuous success. “Going Concern" was written by Eric Leyland.

THE CREEK STREET JUMBLE, by Pamela Mansbridge (Nelson, 145 pp.) is the story of the efforts of a youth club to raise funds to buy new premises. The young people have been offered an old warehouse provided they can raise the money by a certain date, but they meet with considerable opposition from one of the town’s wealthy citizens who means tp have the warehouse for bis own use. Their struggles last throughout the book before they gain their end.

THE PLAY’S THE THING, by Hilda Boden (Nelson, 88 pp.), is a story about two 13-year-old girls interested in riding and drama respectively. They both own ponies and are both cast in the school pantomime. Their mother, in reduced circumstances, has to take in paying guests, the first three of whom turn out to be much more . interesting than the girls expected. There is some unnecessary mystery that comet to nothing about a cat-burglar.

Though of small literary merit, VENTURER TOP SECRET, by lan F. Sime (Nelson, 154 pp.) is exciting reading for boys of 10 to 12 from beginning to end. Twelve schoolboys and three men, the captain, the bosun and the mate, are required to refurbish a schooner, the Venturer, lying at Darroch in the Moray Firth, and sail her down the Caledonian Canal to Aberdovey in North Wales. It is 1941 and the captain is forced to take aboard the secret plans of a camera vital to the war effort and to deliver it on arrival to the proper authorities. The mission is successfully completed and the Commandos and the Home Guard do their bit by oily sneaky-faced villains bent on sabotage.

The illustrations in these columns of children's books are some of Maurice Sendak's drawings tn ‘The Wheel on the School," Mkindert DeJong’s distinguished story for children which won the Newbury Medal in the United States in 1955. A new edition of "The Wheel on the School” is published by Puffin Books.