The Secrets of Finland, by Anna Johnson, illustrated by" Dulcamara"
(London Literary Society), is one of the numberless stories belonging to the class of which "Alice in Wonderland " is the type. Aggie, the heroine, is left behind when her elders go to the pantomime, and finds her way, thanks to a certain mysterious gold pin, to a much more mysterious and delightful place, " Pinland."—Christmas Roses, by Lizzie Lawson and Robert Ellice Mack (Griffith, Farran, and Co.), is a volume of verses and coloured pictures,—the latter, we should say, the better of the two; but then, it is difficult in the extreme to write verses for children. They mast be simple, without being "namby-pamby," an epithet sometimes at least deserved by the effort in this volume.—We have, from the same authors and publishers, a very similar volume, Under the Mistletoe ; and also from the same publishers, All Round the Clock, by Robert Ellice Mack, illustrate d by Harriett M. Burnett.—Saitable also for the little ones, is The Children's Picture Annual (Ward and Lock), a volume that might very well be utilised as a reading book.—Robinson Crusoe and The S111138 Family Robinson. By Mary Godolphin. (Rontledge and Sons.)—Both are in words of one syllable. We have spoken of these before.—Fairy Folk, by E. Lecky, illustrated by Mabel Berkley (Griffith, Farran, and Co.), is a volume of delicate, fanciful drawings.--The idea of Happy Sunday Afternoons for our Little Ones, Second Series (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co.), is this, —certain "Bible outlines" are given, and the children are to fill them in. For instance, there is a drawing of a soldier. The child is to colour the figure, and find out "what the Bible says about the soldier." He should find out the references first, we would suggest, and reserve the supreme delight of colouring till the last.—From the same publishers we have also received The Little Painter's Text- Book of Simple Outlines for Colouring or Illuminating, and also Floral Designs for Colouring, by G. W. Rhead. Here, too, it will be seen, are ingenious and useful attempts to provide a quiet and rational entertainment for the busy fingers of children.
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