And as with the toys, so with the toy-books. They exist
everywhere: there is no calculating the distance through which
the stories come to us, the number of languages through which
they have been filtered, or the centuries during which they have
been told. Many of them have been narrated, almost in their
present shape, for thousands of years since, to little
copper-coloured Sanscrit children, listening to their mother
under the palm-trees by the banks of the yellow Jumna--their (p. 42)
Brahmin mother, who softly narrated them through the ring in
her nose. The very same tale has been heard by the Northmen
Vikings as they lay on their shields on deck; and by Arabs
couched under the stars on the Syrian plains when the flocks were
gathered in and the mares were picketed by the tents.
THACKERAY.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator).
Aladdin.
Lane. .25
These richly colored Eastern pictures will give even little children a
suggestion of the splendor of the Orient. Let us hope that they will
never be too ready to answer the call of "New lamps for old ones."
Walter Crane is the serious apostle of art for the nursery, who
strove to beautify its ideal, to decorate its legends with a real
knowledge of architecture and costume, and to mount the fairy
stories with a certain archæological splendor.... As a maker of
children's books, no one ever attempted the task he fulfilled so
gayly, and no one since has beaten him on his own ground.
GLEESON WHITE.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator).
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
Lane. .25
It seems hardly right to omit this edition of so celebrated a tale
pictured by so celebrated an artist, yet Mr. Crane's work breathes
mystery and Oriental cunning from every page, and should be given to
our youngsters only after examination, as a highly-strung child might
be frightened by it. The picture of the resourceful Morgiana filling
the oil-jars, while a dreadful robber with saucer-like eyes peers (p. 43)
from one of them, is awful indeed.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator).
Beauty and the Beast.
Lane. .25
Charming illustrations accompany this prose version of the ancient
favorite which will long endure because of the great truth underlying
the grotesque tale.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator).
Cinderella.
Lane. .25
May every little girl find the fairy prince of her imagination!
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator).
The Frog Prince.
Lane. .25
The story of the frog who was transformed into the handsome prince is
as immortal as childhood. May we all remember the King's command to
his daughter: "He who helped you in the time of your trouble must not
now be despised."
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator).
Jack and the Bean-Stalk.
Lane. .25
Ogre-like indeed is the giant, and we breathe a sigh of relief when
verses as well as pictures make it quite certain that Jack has escaped
for the third time with his golden treasure. The beans of King (p. 44)
Alfred's day seem to have closely resembled the wild oats of our own.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator).
The Sleeping Beauty.
Lane. .25
"So sweet a face, so fair--was never
beauty such as this;
He stands--he stoops to gaze--he kneels--
he wakes her with a kiss.
He leads her forth; the magic sleep
of all the Court is o'er--
They wake, they move, they talk, they laugh,
just as they did of yore
A hundred years ago."
POETRY, COLLECTIONS OF POETRY AND PROSE, AND STORIES ADAPTED FROM
GREAT AUTHORS
Children seem to possess an inherent conviction that when the
hole is big enough for the cat, no smaller one at the side is
needed for the kitten. They don't really care for "Glimpses" of
this, or "Gleanings" of that, or "Footsteps" to the other--but
would rather stretch and pull, and get on tiptoe to reach the
sweeter fruit above them, than confine themselves to the crabs
which grow to their level.
Miss RIGBY. _1844._
COWPER, WILLIAM.
*The Diverting History of John Gilpin.
Illustrated by Randolph Caldecott.
Warne. .25
A spirited delineation of the never-to-be-forgotten ride.
COX, PALMER. (p. 45)
*The Brownies: Their Book.
Illustrated by the Author.
Century. 1.50
Every child should know Mr. Cox's prankish, helpful Brownies. The
verses are accompanied by many delightful pictures.
HAZARD, BERTHA (Editor).
Three Years with the Poets.
Houghton. .50
While these selections are intended for memorization by children, and
are arranged by months for the school year, the collection is so good
as to fill a useful place in the home library. At the end of the book
are a few pages of wisely chosen little selections of poetry and
prose, truly called Helps for the Day's Work.
OSTERTAG, BLANCHE (Editor and Illustrator).
Old Songs for Young America.
Music arranged by Clarence Forsyth.
Doubleday. 2.00
The familiar songs, set to the music of the old tunes, and charmingly
illustrated,--the costumes those of olden days. Some of the pictures
are in color and some in black and white. The Monkey's Wedding, Bobby
Shafto, and Old Dan Tucker, are included in the contents.
OUR CHILDREN'S SONGS.
Harper. 1.25
This carefully chosen collection--in which American poets are well
represented--although made over thirty years ago, still holds its (p. 46)
own as a standard. One of the divisions is devoted to hymns.
TAYLOR, JANE and ANN.
Little Ann, and Other Poems.
Illustrated by Kate Greenaway.
Warne. 1.00
It is a good thing for children to learn from these quaint verses,
with their charming illustrations, the sort of reading which pleased
the small folks of long ago. The Taylors seldom struck so happy a vein
as in the poem called The Field Daisy, which begins:
"I'm a pretty little thing,
Always coming with the Spring;
In the meadows green I'm found,
Peeping just above the ground,
And my stalk is covered flat
With a white and yellow hat."
I prefer the little girls and boys ... that come as you call them, fair
or dark, in green ribbons or blue. I like making cowslip fields grow
and apple-trees bloom at a moment's notice. That is what it is, you
see, to have gone through life with an enchanted land ever beside
you.--Kate Greenaway to Ruskin.