CHRISTMAS GIFT-BOOKS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14686, 20 November 1909, Page 13

CHRISTMAS GIFT-BOOKS

For the deserving boy or girl—and we trust there will be no undeserving onesno Christmas present can be compared to a. good book, for it is at once a permanent companion and a never-failing source of pleasure and delight. That this is fully recognised by every enterprising publishing house is seen in the timely reminder ot the coming of Christmas which the arrival of parcel upon parcel of Christmas gift hooks conveys, each volume vieing with the other in attractive binding, beautiful and plenteous illustrations, and fascination of lelterpiws. Nothing that art can devise or labour can create is overlooked or omitted in the production of the modern Christmas gift book, and fortunate, indeed, are the boys and girls who live in these delightful days, with the prospect' of shortly being the happy recipient of one or other of these handsome volumes.

One of the iiret parcels lo reach us this season bears the imprint of that well known firm Ward, Lock, and Co., whose skill and cunning in the production of Christmas annuals needs no advertising. TnU year's ,; Wonder Book,' 1 a " Picture Annual for Hoys and Girls," with its twelve coloured'plates and multitudinous smaller iltelrations, is a most attract ivo volume. There are close upon 300 pages stored with verse and stories from the pens of practised writer,*; for the young, ami this " Wonder Book" will prove a lasting source of "wonder" lo any hoy or girl who becomes its possessor. In "Happy Hearts/' also -Ward, Lock, and Co.'s production, we have another picture hook with 11 coloured plates. This handsome volume, which is edited by Harry Golding, is evidently designed for children of smaller growth, since the type is larger, the storks simpler, and the pictures of a character to suit the tastes of tho little tots. It is just the sort of book that the parent needs when the little ones plead for " just one story " before they go to bed. Without further particularising, it is enough to say that, considered from every standpoint, Messrs Ward, Lock, and Co. \s Christinas Annuals leave nothing to be desired. The prices are extremely moderate when the quality of the productions is taken into account. The " Wonder Book" and " Happy Hearts" are both obtainable from Messrs K. J. Stark- and Co. at 3s 6d and 3s 6d respectively.

The Religious Tract Society, with its issues from the Botiverie Press, always maintains a very high standard of literature for the young and its annuals may be depended upon as of the very best quality. It is safe lo say that there are few more beautiful hooks' than (ho yearly volumes of the Girl's Own and liov's Owii Tapers. Taking fust the ,GirkV Own Annual, il may be fitly described as an ideal gift book, for the contents cover almost every point of the life of the modern girl, whether it concerns her dross, 1)31' recreations, her employment or profession, her marriage, the development of her mental and moral qualities, or her training for social life. There are articles by experts upon every conceivable topic dear to the girl of io-diiy; serials and short stories by writers of acknowledged merit, hints on cookery, chats about fashions, plain talks on love and marriage, instruction in music and art, and hundreds of oUkt things too numerous to mention. Tim illustrations, too, both in colour and in black-and-white, are" beyond all praise. In many irttauccs they are of well-known paintings. The binding of the book is handsome and substantial, and at the price charged (8s) the volume is altogether i'ea«mahle.

Tho toys are equally as well catered for as the girls are. i'rom the coloured frontispiece, rcprcsenticr; a cowboys' race, to the heroK of long i^o—Heroward the Wake an:! lvanhoc,—who decorate the insides of the back cover, the Hoys' Own Aniunl is suggestive of those deeds of daring and derring-do go dear to (lis heart of the leai colonial boy. There are tales of adventure galore, from ''Adventures with Redskins" to a "Tiger-shooting Tragedy"; articles dealing with all kinds of sport- ami pastime: angling, stamp and coin collecting photographing, conjuring, cycling, football, cricket, draughts, and chess, etc. The stories are thrilling and the pictures are .-tartling in their sensation. All for all, the Boy's Own Annual (of which the price is also 8s) is well worth tho moncv.

For children of a larger growth, to whom more eolid reading appeals, tho Sunday at Homo will prove invaluable. A lntmljomo volume of closo upon 1000 Jwjss, profiuc'ly illustrate.!, this annual lias a<; piece 'de lwisbniee Mr fi, ft. Crockett's new story "The Men of the Mounttdn." In addition there are papers ami articles of undoubted value dealing with literary, r-cicnliflc, and religious topics, interspersed with short stories,

poem..-, etc. This attractive volume js exceedingly good value at the price (?s 6d).

lu the bound volumes of Our Little. Dots and the Child's Companion (Is 6d per volume) the mails of the little ones are well catered fur in inexpensive form, liillrr volume, contains a profusion elf coloured pictures such as lbs children delight in. The type employed is large and clear, awl the stories and verses have tho right ring. Altogether, the Christmas publications of the Religious Tract Society are of a high order of merit, and deserve extensive patronage. They may bo obtained from the Bible, Tract, and Book Society, Princes street, Dunedin.

Messrs W. and It. Chambers are coming to the front as purveyors of Christmas .gift books, and a couple of sample volumes from this firm are before us. fhoy are strongly and scrviccably bound and hand.vomo in appearance. A 6tory for girls is " Muriel and her Aunt Lu,'"' by May Baldwin, with eight illustrations by A. S. Boyd (ss). The story relates how Muriel Taylor, a motherless' girl, finds her way to the flat of her young aunt, who is studying art in Paris. The two on a very .small ineoms make acquaintance with Paris and Parisians old and now, and Muriel's experience of school in Paris is interestingly related. The stiff and proper English art student, Aunt Lu, is contrasted with Angeliquc, the volatile French art student, a Parisian to her finger-tips in spite of Iter childhood in a. chateau of th'j old " noblesse," and some of the chapters tell of the art life of the two girls in Paris, and also in Normandy on a. sketching tour. , Mrs Moksworth is well and favourably known as a writer of storks, for boys, and in "The February Boys " (3s 6dl we have one of her best efforts. This story opens with the advent of a lmby boy in a family where hitherto tho ' littlo ole'ler brother had reigned supreme and been somewhat spoilt. Tho news arrives on this child's fifth birthday, and is received by him with the-reverse of pleasure; in fact, with the almost passionate indignation that his childish jealousy arouses. But the history goes on to relate how this inauspicious beginning is gradually transformed into tho happiest relations belwesn the little brothers, who become the; most devoted friends. And the friendship between them, it is easy to infer, is to be a. lifelong one.

There are a number of other gift books on Messrs Chambers's list of announceiikmi'.s, but the two noted arc fairly typical of the rest.