Children's Bookshelf

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 175, 20 April 1929, Page 24

Children's Bookshelf

Brief Reviews of the Latest Books for Young People.

Someone has said that by the reading of a good book a child often gains as much information as : is imparted in a week’s tuition. Whether that be true or hot', the child is rare indeed who does not find real pleasure in the reading of a book it can fully understand. Who is there who does not delight in reading about the wonderful doings of great giants and clever little dwarfs? Messrs. Dent’s have just added to their ‘‘King’s Treasuries” series a delightful .little work entitled “A Book of Giants and Dwarfs,” which is edited by G. T. Atkinson. M.A. Many old favourites will be found within the pages of this magic book, including “Jack, the GiantKiller,” “Og, Gog, and Magog,” “Sinbad,” and a host of others. An instructive introduction to these wondrous tales affords a better understanding of them, while tltb concluding pages are devoted to questions concerning the characters described in the book.

Another volume of Dent’s “King’s Treasuries” of particular interest to young people is “Tanglewood Tales” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. “Circe’s Palace,” “The Minotaur,” and “The Dragon’s Teeth” are typical of the stories in this volume, which, like most of the series, is well illustrated and inexpensive. A book that will appeal to boys and their parents is “Little George,” by G. F. Brady, a copy of which has just reached us from the publishers, Messrs. Constable. This delightful book relates the experience of a little boy aged nine who spends his school holidays with his father, whom he hardly knows. Little George’s father was an officer in the Indian Army, and his mother was dead. George found his father a wonderful man and a great comrade, and consequently he had many wonderful experiences, all of which make very interesting reading. A book to read and to keep.