THE ARTISTIC SENSE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18297, 13 January 1923, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE ARTISTIC SENSE.

How times have changed! Some sixty I or seventy years ago it was not thought '' necessary that the- picture books provided for children should contain good drawing, and it was a matter for surprised appreciation when Kate Greenway put careful and dainty work into her picture books for and of children. Nowadays beautiful illustrations .are provided for small people, and the problem before those who would give book gifts lies in making a choice. It is essential that the pictures should be well drawn, for thus can children be consciously or unconsciously taught facts, •beauty, and truth. The ago of the child must be the determining factor of choice, but a tale illustrated is better than isolated pictures on various subjects. Children need not always be given books prepared for children. There are various •ways of looking at pictures, and each small person needs the guidance of thoughtful .. love. The child who is slow and " pernickety" should be encouraged to look quickly and see how. much he can rapidly obtain, » but, generally speaking, the hasty turning of the pages is to be : deprecated, and little people encouraged to look carefully and even compete to see how much they can find in an illustrated page. ■■■■.:' ■ '.'.'; » : Pictures can help to develop individuality, which in these days of conventional laxity is no slight gain. What a child likes or instinctively jshuns can be observed and strengthened or discounted. The books that are most worn are dumb witnesses of what wise parents greatly desire to be helped to realise, namely, the hidden power, the natural tastes and the potentialities ■of Ihe human being entrusted to their care. Thus can pictures become signposts on educational roadways.