BOOKS FOR (ALLEGED) CHILDREN

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7023, 11 January 1910, Page 3

BOOKS FOR (ALLEGED) CHILDREN

FBOM OTJB SPECIAL COKKEBr-ONDENT. LONDON, November 26. Is the. S.P.C.K. parcel of. children's boohs this year a sign of the timjss? If so l , wo may take it that "children" is a term used to indicate age only, not intellect. Tho old beloved and blood-thirsty stories of adventure in the unexplored wilds of Africa and America, tales,of the mandrake, and other uncanny things that Richard Jcfiries gave us, shipwrecks, starvation, and hair-breadth escapes such as Max Pemberton wrote of years ago, fascinating fairy-tales, and stories of hidden treasure—where are they? Children are grown-ups, according to the S.P.C.K. selection, and grown-ups are—what? - An amusing picture comes to mind of the 1 child of this Christmas, sacked and slipperd like the child of a few years ago, yet sitting cross-legged and discussing the scenes in "Meg's Fortune" for instance, or going over with wifie gravity, what one book describes in its preface as "the external relation of Puritans to members of the Roman communion, and its internal discipline and ceremonies. "Do Montfort's Squire" is a vivid tale of the battle of Lewes, and will find interested readers among both boys and girls. The author is Frederick Harrison, M.A., a writer already known by previous battle tales, "England Expects," "Rupert Dudleigh," and others, and this, his-latest book, is well got up and contains several interesting coloured illustrations by Harold Pifford. The plot vigorously worked out, brings in the discovery of the first telescope and microsoope and the great accident that deprived the-world of both for three centuries until they were re-discovered. "Shepperton Manor," by the Rev. J. Neale, D.D.. is another of the same style, also well illustrated. 'When Bab was Young" savours of the Bessie and Elsie series.

"In Quest of a Heritage" leads one to think that it might be for a child reader, but beyond the fact that the story is couched in very insipid language .it deals.. dismally, with dismal subjects. , • "A Dangerous Inheritance" is one of the best, by Alice Wilson Fox—a bright happy story about a family of children,, one of whom comes in for an inheritance, hence the book's eecond title, "Sydney's Fortune."