BOOKS FOR YOUNG FOLKS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1367, 12 May 1898, Page 10

BOOKS FOR YOUNG FOLKS.

A correspondent (" J.S.", Hawera) asks me to give him a short list of books for children's reading. The difficulty is that children are of, different ages and of tastes, in reading as in other things, most diverse, but I will try, nevertheless, to give him a useful list. , First, as to what I call the " Classics. The children's shelves should certainly include the following amongst their contents :

" Robinson Crusoe." (Cassell's illustrated edition is the best, but you can get Crusoe at all prices.) " The Arabian Nights." (Scores of editions also, but Routledge's at about 3s 6d is the most suitable for family perusal.) " Gulliver's Travels." An expurgated edition, bien entendu. Kingsley's " Westward Ho." (For boys of 13 and over.) Scott's "Ivanhoe," Fenirnore Cooper s " The Deerslayer, Marryatt's ' Masterroan Reidy." Lamb's " Tales from Sbakcspere." Hughes' " Tom Brown's (Macmillan and Co. publish a beautifully illustrated edition at 6s. But you can get a sixpenny edition ) Cook's Life and Voyages. (Every New Zealand boy should know his Cook.) Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." < _ (On this, if you remember the criticism of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, that most delightful of young scamps, was that it was "interesting but tough," but a boy should certainly make an attempt to tackle Bunyan. In my young days it was a great favourite. Hawthorne's " Wonder Book " and " Tanglewood Tales." Grimm's " Household Stories," and above all Hans Andersen's Fairy Stories:

Turning to more modern literature, of fairy books there is nowadays quite a host. For quite young children there is an admirable collection, " A Book of Fairy Talcs," retold by the Rev. Baring Gould (Metlwen's Colonial Library, 2s 6d. Then, for older children, there are Andrew Lang's series of "Bed," "Blue," and ''Pink" Fairy Books published by Longmans and Co. These are rather expensive (ss), but are well illustrated and attractively got up. In history a boy may read with advantage Dean Church's stories from Roman and Greek history. "England," in Mr Fisher Unwin's " Children's Library " is an excellent little book. G. A. Henty's books, besides telling what boys would call a " rattling good yarn," convey incidentally much useful information. For example, "The Tiger of Mysore," dealing with the Indian Mutiny; "At Agincourt"; "By Pike- and Dyke" (the story of Dutch struggle for independence); and "When London Burned." Mr J. S. Fletcher's '•When Chailes'the First was King" is also very well written. In tales of adventure Rider Haggard's " King Solomon's Mines " and Stevenson's " Treasure Island " should not be omitted, In Andrew Lang's "True Story Book" (Longmans) much new ground is broken. Charles Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast" is the best sea story ever written. Kipling's " Jungle Book" and " Second Jungle Book " are capital, but can be best appreciated by lads and lasses who . are well into tueir. teens,

I must not forget the late Lewis Carroll's inimitable books, " Alice in Wonder Land" and " Through the Looking Glass." Girls ought to like Mrs Molesworth's stories, of which there are several. The best are " Carrotts" and " The Adventures of Herr Baby." Then there are Miss Alcott's " Little Women," and Miss Ethel Turner's " Seven Little Australians*"

In biography there is a wide choice but every boy ought to know something of Bruce and Wallace; of Nelson and Wellington. Clarke Eussell's " Pictures from the Life of Nelson," recently published, is a splendid book for boys. In travel there is the same bewilderment as to selection. Now that Africa is so much under notice Stanley's " How I found Livingstone," and the same author's " Darkest Africa " might be read by the elder children, the statistics and " dry" details being judiciously skipped. A " boiled down" Nansen for youthful reading is a decided want. For the very young children it is impossible to make a list, so great is the choice offered nowadays. But in the midst of many new books I would include Mrs Ewing's delightful stories, especially " Jackanapes" and " Lob-lie-by-the-fire." In magazines, Chums and The Boy's Own Paper are the best for boys, and the Girl's Own Paper for their sisters. St. Nicholas and Harper's Young Folks are deservedly great favourites, and for the very wee kiddies, Little Folks. Looking over the above list, I am afraid it is somewhat of a " higgledypiggledy " character. Most of the books are°moro specially suitable for boys but I notice that girls as a rule don't care for "girls books"—so called. In books for quite young children, I am not learned. The subject of books for youthful reading is one of great interest and I shall be glad if some of my readers will assist me with suggestions for additions to or omissions from my list. C.W.