A Round-up For Young Readers

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30937, 18 December 1965, Page 4

A Round-up For Young Readers

An ancient English castle is the setting for a story that will please girls of 11 and over, particularly those with an interest in art. Sir Gerald and bis daughter Richenda lived in the castle, where Sir Gerald kept a nursery garden of Alpine plants, and when he needed an assistant they were delighted to find a woman gardener, a widow with two children one being a girl of Richenda’s age. They became friends immediately, and determined to solve the family mystery about some very valuable 16th century miniatures which Richenda’s great-uncle had said were in the castle, claiming to have copied one; yet no-one bad been able to find anything. How the families were united, how the pictures were found and the copy recognised, and how Richenda gave away her greatest treasure only to receive another are agreeably told in THE CASTLE FAMILY by Rosalie K. Fry (Dent, 128 pp.).

Tanya, youngest of a Russian family, loved to sit with her kitten and watch her grandmother. Babushka, knitting stockings for them ail. First for Vera the eldest, and hers were finished by the end of summer; then for Olga, but Olga was impatient and Babushka refused to finish the stockings, so next came socks for brother Volya and last of ail a pair for Tanya, finished two days before Christmas. A STOCKING FOR a KITTEN, by Helen Kay (Abelard Schuman. 40 pp.) tells how Tanya learnt to knit and bow Olga got her stockings after aii in an enchanting story for 7-9 year olds with fascinating illustrations by Yaroslava.

Obviously Andrew Saikey understands the world of make-believe as well as the real, and has a deep affection for Jamaica, which is the setting for EARTHQUAKE (O.UJ*. 123 pp). The greater part of the book concerns Ricky, Doug and Polly, who are staying with their grandparents on the coast when some slight earth tremors are felt. Naturally they ask Gran’Pa to tell them about earthquakes, but he puts it off for some days, during which they meet a wandering Rastafarian preacher who nearly dies In a slip caused by the t rem ours. Finally Gran’Pa tells the children about the great earthquake of 1907, in which hundreds of people died in Kingston. 7-10 years olds will enjoy it unless the description of catastrophe upsets them, but if only we could have had illustrations of real people instead of comic coons! , A lively Australian family who move from Sydney to a country village are the subject of THE YEAR of the CURRAWONG by Eleanor Spence (O.UJ». 170 pp). Their father is seconded for a year to lecture at a new universso they move to Cum■wong Crossing, which Is a big ■chance for the four city chlld■nm. The eldest, 14-year-old ■ Elizabeth, was not happy, ■at leaving her friends and

going to a different school, but a new acquaintance shows her a way to develop her own artistic talent inherited from her mother. The younger three soon become involved in a mystery about the ownership of a disused silver mine, and when it seems likely that the land will be used for speculative building they are able to enlist the support of the adults, so that at last some old injustices are put right. This sympathetic and believable group will give pleasure to boys and girls of about 10 years and up. Children of 11 and over should certainly read THE SPRINGING FERN, by Roderick Finlayson (Whltcombe and Tombs, 220 pp.). Originally written as a series of Primary School Bulletins, here is the history of the Maori and their dealings with the pakehas as they came, first traders then missionaries, soldiers and finally landlords and employers. Because it covers a hundred years there is no particular climax and the book la still noticeably episodic, but it gains cohesion by following the fortunes of one particular family from Rata the high chief to Ana his great-great-granddaughter, a disciple of Princess Te Puea. It is of course a fictional family, but this personal quality gives life to such actual events as the choice of the Maori king, the rise of the Hau Hau’s the confiscations and later the efforts of such leaden as Apirana Ngata to bring new health and courage to their people.

Ruth Manning-Sanders hu put out another charming collection of fairy tales in DAMIAN AND THE DRAGON (O.UJ». IM pp.). Thera are 21 modem Greek stories, which contain many elements of the classic European tale and also some transformed dements of classical myth, such as Theseus’s sword which has become a a silver pistol. For reeding aloud or alone, 64) yean olds.