BOOKS FOR BOYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19792, 12 November 1927, Page 7 (Supplement)

BOOKS FOR BOYS.

ADVENTURE AND ROMANCE.

In a parcel of recently-published books for boys, a volume of outstanding interest is "The Motor Cycle Book for Boys" (Iliffe and Sons, London). Every normal boy longs to possess a motor-cycle, and as a preliminary, he reads everything he can get hold of concerning motor-cycles and how they work. In the "Motor-Cycle Book" he will find a wealth of most valuable and interesting information, for the book tells in simple language exactly how a motor-cycle is made, the purpose of every part of the machine, and how each part works.

The book is magnificently illustrated with coloured plates, line illustrations, and photographs, and, in addition to its technical value, provides most interesting reading on such matters as world tours, motor camping, reliability trials. It is a book any boy might count himself rich to possess.

From J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., comes "Rovers and Stay at Homes," a series of delightful studies in the everyday life of familiar animals, by Maribel Edwin. This is a book that will make appeal to young readers of all ages; it tolls in charming manner the adventures of "Tag, the Roving Rat," "Lap the Homeless," and the ■'Gulls in the Garden." A book that should be in every home where there are children, and in every school library.

A book written by one of the heroes of the Scott Antarctic' Expedition: .The very name of the author, Captain Evans, will bring a thrill to the of every boy who has followed in imagination the quest of intrepid Englishmen to the white lands of the Frozen South. So here is "The Mystery of the Polar Star," the story of Midshipman Clivo Austen, who joins a relief expedition in the old whaler Endeavour, to try to discover the whereabouts of the Polar Star, which had sailed for the Great Unknown and never been heard of again. This is a story every boy will want to read. S. D. Partridge and Co. are the publishers.

" The Sea Raiders" (Tho Sheldon Press, London); by A. B. Sherock, is another fascinating story for boys. The very chapter titles grip tho imagination and lead one forth upon the devious ways of adventure on the high seas—"Gunroom Mates," "With the Raiders," "Tho Isle of Slaves," "Catching a Tartar." But it is sea adventure up to date, for here are light cruisers, seaplanes, destroyers, and all tho excitement of modern sea-warfare, plus tho romance of the pirate days.

" Tho Hunted Piccanninies," by W. M. Fleming (J. M. Dent and Sons), is a story of fascinating interest for Australian and New Zealand boys, tho scene being set in the wilderness of the Australian bush, where two boys find themselves "bushed" at nightfall. Aborigines, wallabies, kookaburras, oppossums, and all the native birds and beasts of the bush, form the company of the two boys for many a day, until, after many hairbreadth escapes and hair-raising adventures, they make their way back to their own people. The coloured illustrations, by Kay Edmunds, aro particularly good.