FAMILY LIFE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

FAMILY LIFE

UNUSUAL SHORT STORIES " Fables for Parents," Dorothy Canfield's new book, is the covering title of a collection of unusual short stories. The author is a writer who takes up her pen only when she has something fairly urgent to say, and these stories which deal with the relationship between parents and children, are sometimes uncomfortably illuminating. It is essentially a book for parents and teachers, for in every page there is evidence of Miss Can field's insight and understanding of the child mind. She has, too, a special talent for evoking the remembrance of childhood days in the minds of her readers, and so produces a receptive atmosphere for her stories. Some of these, of course, are more successful than others, but all are written in the hope of finding a weak link in the reader's armour. They are tales of family life, and as such they reveal with deadly clarity the insinuating poses and false relationships familiar to all families. The author, in her enthusiasm, sometimes over states her case, as in " The Murder in Jefferson Street," but others, such as " Married Children, " Poor Miss Maggie," and " Babushka Farnham." are true enough to bring unique pleasure to scores of sufferers.

"Fables for Parents," by Dorothy Can field. (Cape).