STORIES FOR CHILDREN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23685, 17 December 1938, Page 4

STORIES FOR CHILDREN

"Mumfie's Magic Box." By Katharine Tozer (Murray), 6s 6d. " Trudi and Hansel." By Averll Demuth (Dent), 9s. * " The Great Mr Toad." By Marjorle Beevers (Murray), 4s 6d. " The Little Round Garden." By Gladys Lister (Angus and Robertson), 4s 6d. "The Secret Island." By Enid Blyton (Blackwell), 5s 6d.

"Banjo the Puppy." By Vernon Stokes and Cynthia Harnett (Blackie), 7s 6d. "There's a Story to Tell." By Blanche Winder (Ward, Lock), 4s 6d. " Tales From Sunny Row." By S. M. Williams (Blackie), 4s 6d. "The Lord of the Rushie River." By Cicely Mary Barker (Blackie), 3s. (All with illustrations.)

Mumfie's Progress Mumfie, who happens to be rather an extraordinary—and an extraordin-' arily engaging—little elephant, has established himself as one of the most recent characters in childhood fiction whose celebrity is assured. This is the fourth book of his adventures, and beyond that readers who have made his acquaintance previously will require no recommendation of "Mumfie's Magic Box." It is emphatically a "safe" purchase for those desiring a book for children between the ages of six and eleven. Mrs Tozer's illustrations in colour and line are always excellent and original, her imagination is always capable of getting the inquisitive little toy elephant and his friend Scarecrow into interesting situations and extricating them again. A point to be stressed is that the " Mumfie " books are pleasant to read to children, and, indeed, are specially suited to this purpose. Their claims to the attention of Christmas shoppers deserve to be stated in enthusiastic terms.

Tyrolean Adventures "Trudi and Hansel" is another outstandingly attractive volume in that genre of books for the young that are designed for reading aloud and for pleasing the eye as well as the ear. This is a tale of the Austrian Tyrol, pleasant, straightforward, in which the day-to-day life and the 'exploits of two children are recounted—not to forget their delightful family of animals. Climbing the high peaks in search of the giant's stolen star, these young creatures reach the zenith of their adventures. A special word must be said of the illustrations by Nora Lavrin, done in crayon in black and white in the text and in colour on a number of full pages. They' are exactly suited in treatment to the theme, and convey the authentic atmosphere of a lovely landscape. Mr Toad, Detective Marjorie Beevers has created a delightful company in "The Great Mr Toad," a tale of mystery to intrigue the younger members of the family. Freddie Nightingale disappears, and Mr Toad takes up the case. After a lot of extraordinary happenings and false trails in which the Whiskered Constabulary—Jack Crow, Sergeant Tail, Judge Mole, and all the others play their characteristic parts—the villain is found, and Freddie is rescued. Mr Toad is an imposing fellow and an impressive detective, but one suspects that without his manservant, Bertram Bettle, the end of this affair would have been very different. It is a story that will suit children cf seven to eleven years, but will not be spurned by their elders.

Australian Fantasy " The Little Round Garden" is an Australian story book ■ for children which reminds us that in this important branch of literature the writers and publishers of the sister Dominion challenge comparison with those of Great Britain. The book is most pleasantly illustrated, the production generally is excellent, and Gladys Listerproves herself a skilful raconteur for the young. "The Little Round Garden " is essentially a fantasy, in which the adventures of fairies, insects, birds, and beasts form the theme. Some of the players are Australian all through, such as "Kooka, the kookaburra, and " Bluey." the lizard, and the author invests them with definite and attractive personalities.

Happy Ending Another quite charming story comes from Oxford, from the House of Blackwell, " The Secret Island," by Enid Blyton. This tells of the exploits of some small children who escape from their dull routine under the tutelage of Aunt Harriet and set up housekeeping on a somewhat magical island. Some time previously their parents had set off on a flight to Australia, and had not been heard of again, and after they have settled to life in the secret refuge the children decide to search for them. Whether their quest is successful young readers can be left to discover for themselves, but it should, be said that the book, which is nicely illustrated, has an eminently satisfactory ending. Children and a Dog

"Banjo the Puppy," by Vernon Stokes and Cynthia Harnett, is the tale of a little boy and girl who plead to be allowed to take their puppy with them on holiday, and of what occurs at "Apple Tree Cottage " as a result. The incidents in.this story are of the simElest and most natural type, and the ook gains in its effectiveness from this treatment, for one realises that it contains a very careful study of a little dog—and of two small children into the bargain. The illustrations, large scale reproductions from the authors' pencil sketches, are excellent. Bible Stories

In " There's a Story to Tell," Blanche Winder has approached with goodwill the task of putting some of the most interesting narratives from the New Testaments into simple language for children of six to nine years. The author has done her work quite satisfactorily, if without distinction. The volume has had pains spent on its production, the illustrations consisting of two dozen plates in colour, Mr Goodenough

Mr Goodenough, who has appeared in a previous tale by S. M. Williams, is the deus ex machina in " Tales from Sunny Row," which relates a further series of episodes in the lives of the people of the village of Sunny Row. This village is extraordinary, even among English villages, for the peculiar wit and unworldliness of its inhabitants, and an element of surprise is never absent as one reads of the amiable doings of Mr Goodenough and his neighbours. Girl Among Swans

A very pleasantly produced little book at a low price is "The Lord of the Rushie River," which contains several colour plates and many line drawings. The story is of the little daughter of a sailor, who is left during his absence in the charge of a Dame Dinnage, and is miserably unhappy with this crusty female She runs away to live with the swans, who are her friends, and enjoys many strange experiences before her father claims her back.

New Private Press The establishment of a new private press is not a frequent event in these days, when the general demand for mass-produced books at the cheapest possible price threatens to drive fine printing out of the field altogether says The Times Literary Supplement. The appearance of the new Guyon House Press is therefore an event to be warmly welcomed, and it may be hoped that the new press will have a success equal to the boldness of the undertaking. As its first publication it will issue a new edition of Magna Carta and other English Charters, a prospectus of which has been circulated by the founder of the press. Mr Theodore Besterman. Mr Noyes's " Voltaire " Faber and Faber are reissuing in its complete form, with new appendices, "Voltaire," by Alfred Noyes. On May 25, 1938, the Supreme Congregation of the Holy See in Rome privately ordered that the work should be' completely suppressed by its former publishers. The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster wrote subsequently in The Times that he could not speak too highly of this " fine work." Dr G. P. Gooch wrote, "I deeply regret that so many potential readers are apparently to be deprived of the opportunity of studying a fine piece of work, full of charity and insight."