Some Christmas stocking books

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34031, 20 December 1975, Page 10

Some Christmas stocking books

JOHN AND JULIA GO ON HOLIDAY, by Margret Rettich, published by Hodder and Stoughton ($2.10) is a story for pre-school children with colourful, detailed pictures. It tells how each member of the family wants a different kind of holiday, and how through compromise all their desires are fulfilled. Knight Books are re-issuing titles by Enid Blvton. FIVE GO TO SMUGGLER’S TOP, and FIVE ON A SECRET TRAIL ($1) are two of the latest Fives to reappear. They provide a strong suspenseful story which is especially valuable for children just embarking on independent narrative reading. A book by the same author for children at a slightly less developed stage of independent reading is BRER RABBIT AND THE WONDERFUL TAR-BABY (95c). Enid Blyton can only be admired for the unflagging repetitiveness of her invention; the children reading the stories remain engrossed, happy perhaps and secure with the simple sentence structures reinforcing their newly found reading skill. F. 67, by Fay Sampson, published by Hamish Hamilton ($4.45) is a story for children of about nine to 12. The idea behind it is excellent and full of potential, but the narrative is feebly carried out. It is an almost plausible story of an evacuation — children first — from Britain, as the country is overrun by the killer bug, F. 67. A brother and sister, David and Carolyn, are sent to a camp in central Africa; their parents are eventually sent to a

neighbouring African state. David initiates a plan to run away and reunite the family. Unfortunately, Africa does not quite feel real, nor do the children. A more successful recent novel for the same age-group, published by the Brockhampton Press, is RUNNING SCARED by Alan Evans ($4.85); this is an “adventure thriller,” and a good one. Alan Evans has written adult thrillers; this is his first one for children. Everything in it is credible — at least as far as anything ever is in a thriller — and the children have real capabilities and clearly distinguished natures. Unlike the world of Enid Blyton adventure, they do not resolve everything on their own; indeed, in terms of the story, they are adjuncts merely to a young adult hero, a Secret Service man. The remote coastal part of Scotland where the story is set is well realised, and the landscape is important to the story. Quite a different story for children in this age-group (and younger, if the book is read aloud) is the awardwinning story, FALTER TOM AND THE WATER BOY, by Maurice Duggan, in a new edition by Kestrel Books with Longman Paul at $3.75. The cover is very attractive, and younger children may be disappointed at the sparseness of illustrations and lack of colour inside. The whimsicality of the story will not appeal to every reader, but those who like it, love it. A useful yearly publication for parents, teachers and librarians is CHILDREN’S BOOKS OF THE YEAR, published in paperbaek by Hamish

Hamilton in association with the National Book League and the British Council at $3.85. Here you will find, under sensible section headings such as “Picture Books,” “Stories for eight to U-year-olds,” “Hobbies and Sports” and so on, titles, authors, publishers, British price, and most invaluably, the compiler, Elaine Moss’s personal brief note on the book. The layout is clear and there are useful indexes. MY FAMILY by Felicity Sen is an attractively-produced little hard cover book from the Bodley Head. The short story is told by a little girl, Janey, who lives with her father, her brother, Tom. It describes from a child’s viewpoint everyday life in a family without a mother. The story is simply and pleasantly written and the illustrations by Barry Wilkinson are colourful and charming. The price is less pleasing, $NZ3.75, though a note informs readers that a percentage of the royalties will go to “Gingerbread” a voluntary organisation in Britain to help one-parent families. Even that cantankerous, bowelconscious but very human Father Christmas that Raymond Briggs loosed last year needs a holiday; and his vacation in France, Scotland and Las Vegas is told with wit, charm and a host of amusing strip cartoons in FATHER CHRISTMAS GOES ON HOLIDAY (Hamish Hamilton, $4.65). This Father Christmas is a real character, grumbling and boorish yet sympathetic and lovable. Briggs’s drawings radiate colour and warmth and will be avidly followed by those too young to read.