FOR YOUNGER READERS

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33775, 22 February 1975, Page 10

FOR YOUNGER READERS

In LIVING IN IMPERIAL ROME (Faber and Faber, 176 pp. $5.55) Ellis Dillon conjures up a fascinating picture of daily life in Rome about A.D. 110 when Trajan was Emperor. Four households are described, those of senator, businessman, farmer and stallholder. The activities, hopes, fears and problems of the various members of the households and their friends are brought vividly to life. Recommended for 10 to 14-year-olds. THE BACK HOUSE GHOSTS (Faber and Faber, 141 pp. $4.65) by Catherine Sefton is an eerie but charming ghost story, spiced with an adventure with car thieves and the joyful complications of boarding house life. Quality reading for 8 to 12-year-old girls. Mary Stewart’s LUDI AND THE STAR HORSE (Brockhampton Press, 128 is a delightful story a BavSian peasant boy and his love

for the old family, work horse, and their dangerous journey through the star country, :of the Zodiac. Mary Stewart is better known for her adult novels, but this series of exciting and heartwarming adventures is a masterly piece of storytelling for the six to 10-year-olds. KAHU THE CAUTIOUS KIWI is a truly New Zealand book for children, telling of the adventures of a young kiwi and the boy who saved its life. Brian Birchall has written a story of natural simplicity with a happy ending, which eight-year-olds could read for themselves. Younger children would understand it when read to them as they studied the pictures. Hadley Hodgkinson’s illustrations of the bird, animals and bush scenes are beautifully done in earthy colours. In comparison his people look roughhewn, but perhaps that was hist intention. The book is published by* Golden Press, and the price is $1.50.