NEW STORIES FOR CHILDREN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 78

NEW STORIES FOR CHILDREN.

By F. K. Gregory. \ ' J< (Illustrated by Reginald Jones.) , --London : Watts and Co. Dunedin : R. J. - • Stark and Co. (3s >S.) It is but seldoar ""ffiat "books intended for. children comjguny way, and I' confess to having experienced certain qualms upon receiviag,this one. Now that I- have read ,-~ft^iihrough', however; these qualms liave evaporated, leaving in iheir stead a very decided impression that Mrs Gregory has produced a book worthy of ranking with the best -in ,the library of childhood. In form, her tales, while distinctly reminiscent of -the- great charmers of child literature — - Hans Christian Andersen and the brothers/ Grimm particularly — have undeniably originality of their own, the matter being' really "new," and handled with great skill- and attractiveness. Catering for my own chil-ldren-has ina£e me very wide awake to the fact that "new" stories for the young j are mostly dismal , failures. Children are \ critics by instinct,- and, as a rule, know Ibstter what is fit for them than do their 'elders. For one who has succeeded in ..writing for juvenile readers, hundreds, I dare say, have failed. Those who, .like Andersen, the Grimms, Rudolph Baumbach, i or Lewis Carrol, attain success are rare • an any century. For the youngsters who have 'childhood behind) them with mind , unsaturated by the imaginative outpourings of these men of genius I feel compassion unalloyed. Poor, little unfortunate's ! • They lack something that life later .can never supply. In harmony with her great predecessors, (Mrs Gregory's purpose has obviously been ; $o point a moral, as well as to adorn a |tale, and, in truth, a great deal of /good ethic has been neatly and s firmly woven into' the fabric of these pleasantly-told stories. From hitherto untouched strata she has, to use a vulgar expression, struck "ile." Her Gnomes, Bogeys,- Imps, Dragons, Giants, and Spectres are humorous creations, who, in "A Moonlight

I I Gathering," discuss lugubriously their lost prestige with the world of infancy, and make' resolves in- keeping with the altered state of affairs. In a charming story, ■entitled "Waste Land,"- we are introduced to a' lovable, bifeevolent paid of old woman witches— Mother Odds and Mother Ends — who •do lots- of wonderful things besides j ride through the air on broomsticks. While fully alive to the faults and foibles of her child audience, the cheery optimism of the story-teller shines through all these delight- j " ful tales. Being only human, children are ; ■ naturally as . apt to choose the wrong way ! , as the right — more so, perhaps — until they ! are taught to discriminate. Mrs Gregory's boys and girls always end right, whatever their original tendency , to transgression ; ! and in. tracing their way to right from wrong, she shows herself to be a very i ( "clever guide indeed. In ''The Ugly Prin- ' cess and the .Thirteenth Button," we have ] the strange adventures of a little lady who j had too much of Tier own way — a bad one. ; ,' But it is" pleasant to learn haw she regained ] a better state of mind, her good looks and pleasant disposition, at v one and the same [ time. So it was with the village children in "A-'Cave Story." Invited by the genial ; wizard of the cave, who suspected them_ ! of being rather given to fibbing in a variety ■ of ways, theyjare- punished by having their | faces blackened and in other ways for a j< week, when- they- are tak-en once more to ; the cave, and meet a beautiful lady named j Truth,, attended by elves, pixies, fairies, | and water-sprites, and all is soon put to : rights again. In ally there are 14 stories and versified pieces, which, with some 30 I of Mr Reginald Jones's clever pictures, fill' j a handsome quarto of 140 pages. De- ! signed, with, rare taste "for all children who- love; stories, and wish Fo be good ; . for all people who love children, and wish them to be good," this fine boot merits positive recommendation as being j fitted in every way for its intended pur- ! pose. — Dixornis.