A Seif - Willed Family. By E. S. Buchheim. (Cassell and Co.
2s.)—When the father of seven daughters marries a young woman of twenty-two, it is not unlikely that there will be " ructions." Such there are in the Marshall family. The seven champions of independence are cleverly discriminated; nobody is perfect ; even the best people get into great rages; nobody is very bad. And after all the voices—some of them very shrill— there is quiet.—The Villagers in Town. By M. Bramston. (S.P.C.K. 1s. 6d.)—The Theemes of Simthorpe, finding a good opening in London, take up their abode in a " block "; here they come in contact with some kinsfolk who lodge in a less fashionable part of the building,—blocks, it seems, have their East and West Ends. How the two families fare is very pleasantly told in this story. Miss Bramston's skill at this kind of work is well known, and there is little need to recommend her book to readers of experience.—Christmas in French Canada, by Louis Frechette (John Murray, 6s.), takes us to unfamiliar scenes, and introduces us to people whose ways of thinking are not a little unlike our own. Then there is that pic- turesque characteristic of Nature in Canada, its summer beauty, its winter terrors. Mr. Frechette's English needs no apology ; it is not one whit the worse for the French esprit which one sees gleaming through it. And he has received excellent help from the pencil of his illustrator, Mr. F. S. Coburn.—Tales for Toby. By Ascott R. Hope. (J. M. Dent and Co. 2s. 6d. net.)—A. number of animals, from a mouse up to an elephant, tell their stories for themselves, or have them told for them. Is they have been lucky enough to find an excellent interpreter, they will not fail to please their human audience. Naturally the elephant, a creature which has a long life and plays many parts in it, is as good as any of the raconteurs, even though, as one of his hearers scoffingly observes, his tale is like a trunk, " because most of it comes out of his own head." The illustrations, by Messrs. W. B. Robinson and S. Jacobs, give additional charm to an attractive book.
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