Ages seven to ten
Anna and the Mini-Man Carol James (Deutsch 16s)' Poor little rich girl, friendless and for- lorn, finds a miniature man in her pocket: a dapper Lilliputian with a taste for natty suits.
sports cars and real estate, who sets about doing up the dolls' house, mowing the carpet, burning the clippings and generally wreaking havoc—all visited on Anna by her hard-faced nanny: Goodin parts.
Reynard the Fox Roy Brown illustrated by John Vernon Lord (Abelard-Schuman 16s). Some dozen stories, admirably retold from Joseph Jacobs, in which Tibert the Cat, lsegrim the Wolf, Kyward the Hare, Bellin the Ram and many more are thwarted, foiled
and shamelessly done down by the abominable fox. What makes these exploits at once so en- tertaining and instructive is that, unlike almost any other villain known to children's literature, Reynard's heinous life of crime is invariably and, against all the odds, abundantly success- ful. Exquisite illustrations.
The Town that Went South Clive King (Hamish Hamilton 16s). 'A dangerous piece of floating wreckage' reported in the Channel turns, out to be the town of Ramsly, prised loose from the south coast in a flood and head- ing for foreign parts. A captivating book, especially good on relations between the sturdy inhabitants of Rantsly and the various, more or less exotic and dubious natives encountered on their travels; the whole seen through the eyes of an immensely sympathetic, astute and level-headed cat named Gargoyle—a cat of miny parts whose adventures in darkest north- ern France, in Arabian desert, African jungle or Australian bush, and whose last, superbly casual appearance at the Pole, will not be soon forgotten.
The Yellow Dragon and Other Gypsy Folk Tales John Hampden (Deutsch 21s). 'Terse, bold, humorous stories of practical magic, a- cellent for reading aloud, in which a number of shrewd lads get the better of dragons, ogresses and other pests, thereby winning the hand of many a fair and amiable king's daughter. Pa- ticularly fine is the cheerful tale of Ashypelt and the naked ghosts.
The Princess Splendour and Other Stories Helen Waddell (Longmans Young Books 18s). Nine subtler and rather more elusive stories, recovered from a manuscript written fifty years ago and since forgotten; they range from Gillie the Fox and his friend Maclan—uncom- monly canny even for a Scot—through the sweet and sober 'Fairy Rath' from Ireland, to the strange, most delicate and sad Japanese legend of the Princess Splendour, the moon king's ghostly daughter, and her brief sojourn on earth.
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