As Chairman of the Children's Literature Committee of the Federation for Child Study, Mrs. Gruenberg has had the opportunity to examine carefully about fourteen hundred children's books during the past three years, in co-operation with a number of careful readers. The titles given herewith are picked from a longer list prepared by the Committee, entitled "A Selected List of Recent Books for Children. A new and revised edition of this booklet has been issued, and may be obtained by sending twenty cents to the Secretary of the Federation, 219 West One Hundredth Street, New York.THE EDITOrs. I N going over the more recent books of the various publishers, one is impressed by the fact that the best are in nearly all cases new editions of old favorites. The publishers seem to vie with one another in bringing out the most attractive "Robinson Crusoe," or "Alice," or "Andersen's Fairy Tales." And they have succeeded remarkably well in producing a well-made book, with good print and artistic illustrations and attractive appearance, at a very low price. At this point the making of books has become almost standardized, and the choice is coming to be confined to the degree of elaborateness or refinement of finish for which one is willing to pay. Beautiful pictures for children's books are furnished by such artists as Rackham, Rob inson, Dulac, and Wyeth; and they delight the adults as well as the children. A very good series of reprints of older and more modern books for children is furnished in Dutton's "Tales for Children from Many Lands" series, at fifty cents. Good editions of Alice in Wonderland" with the original Tenniel illustrations are published by Macmillan and by Putnam. There is an improvement noticeable in the quality of picture books for young children. This is of course a by-product of our technological advance, and a very encouraging one when we consider the influence of the pictures on the tastes and characters of the children. There should be no further excuse for placing before the wondering and absorbing eyes of youth the atrocities called "pictures" that have been so common in the past. Of the books that the older children consume in such large quantities, the standardization seems to be toward a certain mono ony of plot and development, so that one is tempted to look forward to the invention of a machine for making these stories. There are two things to be said in favor of these books they impart a certain amount of information, and they are harmless. But, utilizing the boy's interest in adventure and travel and the girl's interest in romance, they get themselves read without the help of any external encouragement; the only use we can make of them is to get the young people to acquire through them the reading habit. But for those who already have the reading habit we are very glad to add this year a few books which are just as interesting and informational as those that are so "popular," and which are at the same time of a decidedly higher type, from the point of view both of literary quality and of mental content. Of books intended primarily for girls we have found none equal in excellence to those written for boys; but fortunately girls will read "boys' books," although boys will not read "girls' books." Books dealing with nature and science are improving in quality, and a number of new ones in this class have been added. The growing interest in vocational problems is reflected in a large number of books about the every-day work of the world; of these, some have decided merit. The historical books available for young people have come to be of unusual importance this year if we undertake to utilize the children's interest in the European war. This situation was of course not anticipated by the publishers, but it will have its influence for some time to come. It is particularly important that the historical books we place in the hands of children shall be of high grade morally and intellectually. As I pointed out in my article on children's books last year (see The Outlook, December 13, 1913, page 803), the first consideration in the selection of books for a child should be the kind of child that is to use the books. Beyond that, there are varying degrees of merit for every kind of book, and in the following list the best of the recent books in each group are given. BOOKS FOR CHILDREN BIOGRAPHICAL Stories of famous men and women. Very good. 12-16. HISTORICAL An Island Story. By H. E. Marshall. Stokes. $2.50. An interestingly written history of England, covering the periods from the coming of the Romans until 1902. Large volume, containing many authentic maps and illustrations. 12-16. The Child's Book of American History. By Albert F. A History of Germany. By H. E. Marshall. Doran. An interestingly written account dealing with events covering the periods from 58 B.C. until 1888. Large vol ume containing many authentic maps and illustrations. 12-16. HISTORICAL.-Continued The Man with the Iron Hand. By John Carl Parish. An imaginative, romantic tale of the white invasion of the Mississippi Valley from the point of view of the Indian inhabitants. 12-16. Brown of Moukden. By Herbert Strang. Putnam. $1.50 TALES OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE A disguised guide A History of Discovery. By M. B. Synge. Putnam. $2.50 The Boy with the U. S. Indians. By Francis Holt Wheeler. Awakening sympathy for and interest in the American Indian, giving much information about their religion, family life, language, and customs. A valuable addition to a boy's library. 12-15. A Boy in Eirinn. By Padraic Colum. Dutton. $1. A graphic account of the country and its customs, telling of recent events, and of the home and school life of a native boy, by the boy himself. 8-14. Robinson Crusoe. By Daniel Defoe. Jacobs. $1. NOTE. The figures after the comment on each book indicate approximately the age for TALES OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE.-Continued The Voyage of the Hoppergrass. By Edmund Lester Pearson. Macmillan. $1.35. An interesting and unusually well written tale of a river trip taken by several boys and an old sea captain. 10-14. Kidnapped. By Robert Louis Stevenson. Scribner. $2.25. Large, handsome edition, beautifully illustrated by N. G. Wyeth. 10-14. VERSE The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes. Edited by Walter Verses depicting child life and thought in Japan. Beautifully and characteristically illustrated in color by Japanese artists. 6-10. Peter Pan's A B C. By Flora White. Hodder. $1. Text indifferent. Full-page illustrations in color have high artistic merit, and convey the genuine fairy quality that the story calls for. 8-12. Mother Goose. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Century. $3.50. Handsome edition with extraordinarily beautiful, imaginative illustrations in color and black-and-white by this well-known artist. Nursery. The Nursery Rhyme Book. Edited by Andrew Lang. Warne. $1.35. Strong, well-bound edition; illustrations full of charm and humor. Nursery. A Child's Book of Old Verse. Selected and illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. Duffield. $2.50. A good selection in a large, handsome edition, with illustrations in color and in black-and-white. 8-12. The Children's Poets. Edited by Mary MacLeod. Stokes. 45c. each. Longfellow, Scott, Tennyson, Wordsworth. Small, attractive edition, with illustrations in color. 10-14. FAIRY AND FOLK TALES, LEGENDS, ETC. The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Edited by Frances Jenkins Olcott, based on a translation by Edward William Lane. Holt. $1.50. Handsome edition with colored illustrations. Several of the stories would probably be new to most children. 10-14. Fairy Tales from Arabian Nights. Edited by E. Dixon. Putnam. $2.50. Very handsome edition; beautifully illustrated in blackand-white. 10-14. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales. Illustrated by W. Heath Robinson. Holt. $3.50. Very elaborate, handsomely illustrated edition. 8 12. Celtic Fairy Tales. Indian Fairy Tales. Edited by Joseph Jacobs, Putnam. $1.25 each. Chinese Fairy Tales. Edited by Adele Fields. $1.25. Excellent collection of old tales. 10-14. Putnam. The Strange Story Book. By Mrs. Andrew Lang. Edited by Andrew Lang. Longmans. $1.60. Miscellaneous collection of folk-lore and fairy tales, with the attractiveness of all the Lang collections. 10-14. The Hungarian Fairy Book. By Mandor Pogany. Stokes. $1.35. Imaginative, well told, conveying the spirit of the race. Beautifully illustrated by Willy Pogany. 8-12. The White Duckling, and Other Stories. Translated from the Russian by Nathan Haskell Dole. Crowell. $1. New issue of the Russian Fairy Tales. Interesting and dramatic. Based on the primitive myths, and breathing the racial spirit in its harshness and crudity. 8-12. Pinocchio Under the Sea. Translated by Carolyn M. DellaChiesa. Edited by John W. Davis. Macmillan. $1.25. More adventures of the ever-delightful Pinocchio. Humorous illustrations. 8-12. The Happy Prince, and Other Stories. By Oscar Wilde. Putnam. $3.75. Elaborate edition; beautifully illustrated by Charles Robinson; poetic fairy tales. 10-14. The Kingdom of Why. By Stuart B. Stone. Bobbs-Merrill. $1.25. Humorous tale of a girl's adventure in the land of her imagination in quest of the wise man to answer her eternal Why?" Appropriately illustrated by Peter Newell. 10-14. Our Island Saints. By Amy Steedman. Putnam. $2.50. Legends of the Christian Saints told with fine simplicity. loftiness, and charm. Handsome edition, beautifully illustrated by M. D. Spooner. 10-14. 787 THE WORLD OF WORK World at Work Series: Coal Mine. Cotton Mill. Woolen Mill. Shipyard. Iron Works. Leather Works. By Arthur O. Cooke. Hodder. 35c. each. Small, attractive books, well illustrated in color. Text clear, simple, and interesting. 8-12. The Young Farmer. By George B. Hill. Penn. $1. A wholesome tale of a boy who has it in him to "make good." Pleasant humor and plenty of action. 12-16. The Story of Wool. By Sara Ware Besant. Penn. 75c. A story with a plot, taking the reader through all the steps of the woolen industry, from the range to the mill. 10-14. With the Men Who Do Things. By A. Russell Bond. Munn. $1.50. Reliable, interesting account of some of the important processes and achievements in modern engineering that will appeal to most boys; by an associate editor of The Scientific American." 13-16. The Boy with the U. S. Fisheries. By Francis Holt Wheeler. Lothrop. $1.50. Facts about the fisheries interestingly presented. 12-15. Uncle Sam, Wonder Worker. By William Atherton Dupoy. Stokes. $1.25. About the work of the various departments of the Government, such as the Forestry Department, the Biological and Geological Surveys, etc., containing much scientific information, interestingly told. Over 14. NATURE AND SCIENCE Beside the Brook. By Arthur O. Cooke. Hodder. 35c. An attractive little book about the brook and the animals that live in and beside it. 8-12. The Feet of the Furtive. Hoof and Claw. By Charles G. D. Roberts. Macmillan. $1.35 each. Well-written, interesting animal stories; the author is known for his intimate understanding of the animals. Over 14. Folks of the Woods. By Lucius Croker Pardee. Doubleday. $2. For nature and animal loving children. Enough fancy to cover the imparting of information. Good language. 10-14. Playbooks of Science Series. By V. E. Johnson. Doran. 90c. each. Chemistry and Chemical Magic. Reliable, useful information entertainingly presented through experiments and tricks;" most of the apparatus can be made by the children themselves. Will appeal especially to boys. 12-16. Will o' the Wasps. By Margaret Warner Morley. McClurg. $1.25. Instructive stories of the life of wasps and hornet", delightfully told. 8-12. VARIOUS STORIES The Adventures of Akbar. By Flora Annie Steele. Stokes. $1.35. Story of the childhood of one of the wisest and greatest of the Mogul emperors. 1542 to 1605. Gives the Oriental atmosphere in all its richness and quaintness. Good Stories for Great Holidays. By Frances Jenkins Olcott. Houghton. $2. A good collection of stories in connection with the great American holidays-May Day, Labor Day, Lincoln's Birthday, etc. 8-12. The Story of Chanticleer. Adapted by Florence Yates Hann. Stokes. $1.50. A simplified prose version in story form of Edmond Rostand's play. Great charm; profusely and beautifully illustrated. 8-12. Child Went Forth (A). By Yoi Pawlowska. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. $1.50. Una Mary, the Inner Life of a Child. By Una Hunt. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. $1.25. It seems as impossible for the mature mind to refrain from tampering with the memories of childhood as it is to tell our fantastic dreams without a logical adjustment. Lewis Carroll was the great master of illogical fancies, and one feels that now another writer has appeared who possesses the other rare gift sought for and denied to so many. A Hungarian lady writes in "A Child Went Forth" with absolute simplicity and truth of the little child Anna, and our response is instantaneous. All the reticence, the curiosity, the innocent daring and premeditated naughtiness of a normal little girl are here. Anna was by no means a good child. She actually made disobedient plans out of her own head, and her father's warning that she would have to be sent to England to school, though terrifying, was often forgotten. The village among the vineyards of Hungary, the servants, the peasants and small tradesmen, the doctor, the pastor, and, most of all, the young father and mother of little Anna, are all living people. Picturesque, amusing, touching, and true are these evidently autobiographical recollections, and we welcome the perfection and beauty of the picture. Una Mary was brought up in surroundings very different from the Hungarian home of Anna. That may in part account for the contrast between the two books. The success of this story of "the inner life of a child" pales before the luminous truth of "A Child Went Forth," and we have but one more addition to the long list of books about childhood thoroughly permeated by the influence of later thought and experiences. There are many lovely and true incidents told well, but the simplicity of real, uncontaminated child thought is lacking. May Iverson's Career. By Elizabeth Jordan. Harper & Brothers, New York. $1.25. May Iverson, graduated from the convent school, enters upon a journalistic career, and before she is twenty-one achieves a noticeable eminence. Lively accounts of her "stories ' and how she got them, entertaining glimpses of editorial rooms and the torture chamber of dramatic rehearsals, and narrow escapes from flying bullets in a Southern feud district certainly form a striking contrast to the placid VARIOUS STORIES.-Continued Round the Yule Log. By P. C. Asbjornsen. Lippincott $1.50. Charming tales of primitive Norse life, conveying the genius and temper of the Norwegian peasant. 10-14. Stories from Wagner, By J. Walter McSpadden. Crowell $1.50. A new edition of this popular book. Of interest to adults as well as to children. Over 14. The Wind in the Willows. By Kenneth Grahame. Scribner. $2. Charming stories by the author of " The Golden Age” and "Dream Days." days when May was under the guidance of Sister Irmingarde. Again our attention is called to the economically independent woman. Selina. By George Madden Martin. D. Appleton & Co., New York. $1.30. Emmy Lou, under another name and with added youthful years, appears as a girl of the '80's. In the discriminating phrase of the author, she is "helpless more than heroic, and groping more than grasping." Selina, stirred by a vague yet strong feeling that the social conditions of her little world in a Southern town are not all they should be, gropes-poor, pretty child. She has happened upon the years when doubt of the Victorian ideals is appearing and the vigorous modern ideals for womanhood have not yet materialized. In curious English, full of such expressions as "right now" and "stop by," the simple annals of home and town life are written, and a vivid, real impression of character is made upon our minds. From Dublin to Chicago. By George A. Birmingham. The George H. Doran Company, New York. $1.50. Even if the title of this engaging volume did not imply as much, and even though it had been published anonymously, the nationality of the writer is unmistakable. No Englishman or Scotchman could have done it, and with both hands outstretched we welcome the Irishman. Canon Hannay (nearly every one now knows that "Birmingham is a pen-name) may have made a very short stay in America, but he knew us and liked us, and, being Irish, told us so with a fascinating touch of extravagance. He liked our newspaper reporters, he found New York a clean city (!), he endured patiently our centrally heated houses, and he went everywhere with his eyes open and his heart sympathetic. For pure amusement some of these chapters offer unequaled attractions. Of course, as he modestly reminds his readers, he may be mistaken, and he is, in some of his conclusions. His discourses upon Pullman sleeping cars, gardens, bath-rooms, and modern luxuries are inimitable. His trip from Dublin to Chicago was to him a great pleasure, and we have to thank him for allowing us to share that pleasure. California: Romantic and Beautiful. By George Wharton James. The Page Company, Boston. $350 Every one who has seen Mr. James's book on the Grand Canyon of Arizona will recognize his fitness to prepare this elaborate and exceedingly |
