THE SPIRIT OF THE BUSH FIRE, AND OTHER AUSTRALIAN FAIRY TALKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2295, 24 February 1898, Page 51

THE SPIRIT OF THE BUSH FIRE, AND OTHER AUSTRALIAN FAIRY TALKS.

I By J. M, Whitmeld.

James Horsburgb, Dunedin. Angus and Robarfcson, Sydney. Handsomely bound, beautifully illustrated, wich every advantage of print and paper* and yet — and yet ifc «esnis ho u& fchat it* this charming book, as in mosfc other cihwcmr ing books of the meitera faky^&torp aeries, there is a very essential something lacking. What is it ? A certain primness and desireto utilise the probabilities — to give a decant vraisemblance to their fairy tales — seem to cramp and limit all modern writers of tbift particular literature. Their work seeing shadowed and sobered by the dreary conviction that there are no children nowadays who believe in fairies, no children who cars to be delightfully humbugged with fairy stories ! However, premising this one drawback, which the author inevitably labours under in common -with his fellows, these stories of Mr Whitfield's are dainty, olever, and amusing. Moreover, there is a certain continuity in the tales, a carrying on of tbe personality of the various giants, wizards, and witches, which links many of the episodes together with pretty possibilities, as in "Mioroscopio Tim's Adventures" and 11 Daisy and the Giants." Others of the tales are conventionally set forth in chapters, as "Ladies," "Princess Radiant and Princ& Plain," while some few are very short and quite detached from their fellows, as " The Spirit of the Bash Fire " — whose dainty extravagance seems almost too pathetic in the light of the tragedies which the woEds " bush fire " have recently introduced — il The Beaching of the Oollaroy," and " The Mermaid's Ballroom," &c. Well-known looalfj ties and celebrated beauty spots, the natural wonders alike of mountain, wood, and water in Australasia, are all immortalised by being inwoven in the dainty web of these fairy stories. For this reason the book will possess an added charm for children all over Australasia, and there is no doubt it should prove a popular and attractive gift book.