ILLUSTRATED GIFT-BOOKS. --At Home. Illustrated by J. G. Sowerby. Decorated by
Thomas Crane.—Abroad. Illustrated by Thomas Crane and Ellen E. Houghton. (Marcus Ward and Co.)—These are very fascinating little books for children, illustrated in what we might call a" bonny " style, with a good deal of humour and spirit, and accom- panied by verses which children are likely to find very amusing. The pictures of the children's experiences in their journey in France are especially good, and the story of the children's journey there will have a good deal of novelty for the small readers.
As Christmas draws nearer, more and more varieties of Christmas and New-Year's Cards come under our notice. The most enter- prising and go-ahead of Christmas Cards publishers are, per- haps, Raphael Tuck and Sons. They have by far the greatest variety, and have besides hit upon the bold idea of publish- ing a Royal-Academy series, for which they have received contributions from nine or ten members. There is no doubt that these will be very attractive. They are well got up and reproduced, and it is simply marvellous how they can pay at the moderate price asked for them. It is impossible to point out more than a few of the subjects in which this firm have achieved a success ; but amongst others we may mention that their animals are particu- larly well drawn, and that they have endeavoured with some success to make the subjects appropriate to Christmas. It is one great fault which we find,almost universally with these productions, that they con- sist generally of nothing but a totally irrelevant little picture, with "A merry Christmas and a happy New Year" printed underneath. In the prizes given at the several exhibitions, it was just the same thing; there was no sense of appropriateness, no effort made to encourage appropriate designs. Now, if Messrs. Raphael Tuck and Sons have not many subjects celebrating the religious aspect of the season, they have at least remembered what is called "seasonable weather," and have some pathetic, as well as a vast number of humorous snow subjects, which will delight many a child, and are certainly more to the purpose than the various summer views, or still more than the nude figures,sitting under orange and lemon trees which are so universal.—Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode must be mentioned for the delicacy and refine- ment of their cards. By far the best group of flowers for arrange- ment and colouring which we have yet seen is one of narcissus and lilies of the 'valley, by Miss Steele, published by this firm; and they have also, to our mind, the prettiest of Linnil Watt's work, a series of simple rustic figures of charming little children.
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