BOOK NOTICE.

Southland Times, Issue 16841, 18 September 1911, Page 6

BOOK NOTICE.

"THE SUN’S BABIES,” by Edith Howes. London, New York, etc., Cassell and Co., Ltd. Books like that which we are called upon to review, mark the beginning of a new era in the histories of colonies such as ours, in the early days of the first colonists there was more need for the strong arm titan for the fanciful brain. Material interests predominated: forests had to be cleared, swamps drained, and rivers bridged; the aims and purposes of life were, of necessity, mainly utilitarian; and .any spare leisuretime had to be spent in rest preparatory to further attacks on the opposing forces of Nature. As time wore on, tire colony had its intellectual as well as its material products; but these, when they took form as books, were mtyinly occupied with the scientific wonders and the economic problems which the now colony presented to its people, and with the stirring tale of struggle and strife in which the bravery and fortitude of the earliest settlers were related. In such books, clearness of statement and cogency of argument were much more important than grace of style and charm of diction. The volume lying.before us is a reminder that we have advanced a step further, and readied a stage when we look for elegance as well as force, and consider manner as well as matter. The authoress. Miss Edith Howes, is vo understand, engaged in teaching in Gore. She has been fortunate, indeed, in securing the services of such well-known publishers as Cassell and Go. for the production of her book. Under such favourable auspices, her merits as an author may become known far beyond the confines of her own district and pave the way, let us hope, for future success. As readers of Kingsley will note, the title of the book is not entirely original. Tins is not of much consequence; in these times'there is certainly “no end” to the making of books; and the choice of a wholly original title is now a matter of considerable difficulty. The reason for the title chosen is shown in the opening poem, in which the Moon Man. who claims a thousand thousand stars us his family, commiserates with the Sun-Man on iiis loneliness. The latter shows that lie is in no need of pity by claiming as his offspring ail living things, sentient or otherwise, upon earth—“A million million babes are mine.” He said, "on yonder earth: My sunbeams wrap them nil the day, To me they owe their birth.” All these, owing life itself to his 'beneficent influence, he claims as h'.s own—they are the Sun’s Babies. The subsequent sections set 1 forth the life-history of these babies, well-known members of the vegetable and animal kingdom, under the pleasant guise of fairy tales, in which tiro life-giving and life-sustaining forces of nature are the fairies concerned. In her survey of Nature, the authoress takes her readers over hill and stream, by tlie lonely seashore and through the cultivated field. No plant is so lowly or so common as to be unworthy of attention; the tiniest, or even the most noxious, of insects, are shown to repay with Interest the keenness of the observer. Miss Howes has, very wisely, we think, confined herself to the commonest and most widely distributed plants and animals. By means of such old-fashioned books as "The Swiss Family Robin-mo," the extremely patient and wi-11-lraine.l youngsters of past gen-e-rations learnt many dry dt tails of plants and animal.-, with which they could hope, at boat, only for a bowing acquaintance. There is no necessity to go so far afield: every child may find abundant scope for the exercise of his imellecu.at poners and of his most varied emotion ; in the scenes most familiar to bin.. Facto and theories of the dry-as-dust sort are repellent to young people; the problem is to make them attractive and thus turn the thoughts of the rising generation to the beauties and wonders of nature. Ly investing the objects she treats of with distinct and living peruana lilies, by giving them, for the nonce, l v eiings and emotions akin to our own Mi's Howes main ; the path of the young scientist plain and pleasant. It is- her chief merit that in her clever allegory, she holds a clear mirror up to Nature and never distorts the facts of science to suit the exigencies of her narrative. Tlu patailelism between fact and fancy is not only full, imt also, exact. The narrative never halts, the interest rarely wanes, yet the - scientific purpose of the author achieves complete fulfilment. The ordinary scientific handbook is of necessity nnnural; it deals merely with facts and theories and has no place for right and wrong. Miss Howes’ method, on the contrary, gives her golden opportunities for dealing with, moral problems. The sw; et pea ( Rose-Rink) braving the terrors of Jack Frost, the Storm King ami the Snow Queen, lias the reward of her fortitude when in spring, her glorious bowers open." Hushed like the sunset sky.” The perseverance of Chick-a-plck in his attempts to crow, are, after many dreadful failures, crowned with success. The modest White-Brier in Autumn glows with scarlet berries when the charms of her garden sisters hits quite departed. LoveMother (the potato), giving all the substance of her body to support her children (leaves a id (lowers), dwindles gradually away, content in her self-sacrifice since it ministers to the needs of others. The need for mutual help is shown in the Garden Party, in which "the lives and moths .... lie w about singing with pleasure and drinking the delicious honey provided for 'diem “by the flowers. In return, they dy from flower to flower, carrying the golden pollen dust and thus enabling the flowers to exchange pollen. There are certain aspects of scientific truth in natural history, sex problems, to be brief, that are generally found to

tax the ingenuity of instructors of youth. Concealment In such cases is in the end, unwise; specious disguise, weak and unsatisfactory. It is probably best that the facts should be faced boldly, but delicately. That Miss Howes is equal to the difficult task is shown in the story of Billybu/.z, the drone, in which the mating of drone and queenbee is treated with case and delicacy, without loss of force of truth. It is right and wise that any author addressing an audience of boys and girls should take an optimistic view of the universe. Joy is the rightful heritage of youth. As a healthy frame is be t built up in a pure and bracing atmosphere, so a brave and robust spirit is best reared in a spiritual environment free from taint of fear and guilt. So our author, in considering the ravages of Dicky Codlin (lire Codlin Moth), states simply the facts of Ills noxious career and does not linger over the moral problem it involves. The style of the book is clear, fluent and simple, just such as an educated mother would use in telling her children their favourite tales. The even How of the narrative is saved from monotony by the skilful use of interrogation and dialogue. Nor is the saving grace of humour a wanting. The misdeeds of Woollymooly (the pet lamb), though they end disastrously, cannot but provoke a smile; while the life-history of Danny Elat face, (the flounder), are most amusing. In choice of names, too, Miss Howes is generally most skilful; as instances. we may quote Creepy-Crawly, Wiggle-Waggle and Chick-a-pick as particularly felici foils. From wtiat we have said it may be inferred that the book is one which should have a particular charm for the young. Happy is the child who possesses a copy, particularly if it has the tine coloured illustrations by Frank Watkins. Fortunate, 100. are those younger children who have parents wise enough and kind enough to lighten the long nights by reading to their little ones such delectable tales as are found in "The Sun’s Babies.”