Books for Children
Zozo. By.H. A. Rey. (Chatto and Windus. 5s.) Legends of the Christ Child. By F. M. Fox. (Sheed and Ward. 5s.; The Golden Hen. By Diana Ross. (Faber. 5s.) Great Adventures in History and Legend. By Frederick -S. Hoppin. (Muller. 6s.)
The Boy who was Atraid. By Armstrong Sperry. (Lane. 6s.) Poo-Poo and the Dragons. By C. S. Forester. (Michael Joseph. 7s. 6d.)
Smoozie. By Alma Savage. (Sheed and Ward. 5s.) Enid Blyton's Happy Story Book. (Hodder and Stoughton. 3s. 6d.) Timothy's Conjurer. By Rose Fyleman. (Methuen. 4s.)
John and Mary and Miss Rose Brown. Bj Grace James. (Muller. 6s.) Jenny Spring. By Ruth Clark. (Dent. 7s. 6d.) Runaway Boy. By Marjorie Dixon. (Faber. 75.6d.)
FASCINATING as it would be to spot the permanent winners among these new children's books—to discuss whether the Alaskan reindeer Smoozie has a chance of surviving like Fortescue's Red Deer, or whether Poo-Poo might rival Dolittle—this review will be strictly practical and stick to the questions Are any of them good for this Christmas and if so, for whom? -ihe figures in parentheses are my guess at
Christmas, suitable ages.
Although Zozo the monkey lacks the panache of de Brunhors Zephir, H. A. Rey has made a first-class picture-book, with brief, business-like text ; and like the Babar series, it will be appreciated by nostalgic grown-ups for the sake of the French background (3-7). The next three books are based on traditional stories and legends. All authors aim at a conversational tone of voice ; I personally should find The Golden Hen much the easiest to read aloud. These stories, most of which have been broadcast, are in the folk-tale tradition—Mother Hothe and her gold, the Three Cows, and so on—and there are some very nice line drawings by Gri. Miss Fox's Legends are the apocryphal ones about Christmas—how the animals kneel on Christmas Eve, how the robin got its red breast, and others (both 4-8). Great Adventures tells the stories of Alexander, Hannibal, the Cid, Galileo, William Penn and other worthies—clearly, but perhaps a trifle stolidly (6-10). Legend is the basis of The toy who was Afraid, which has the same background as The Coral Island, but more closely observed, and seen from the point of view of a Polynesian boy instead of a hearty young Briton. It has, however, the same moral backbone ; and the boy's conquest of his fear of the sea is described with great interest and earnestness (7-12).
Poa-Poo is a genuine creation, and a good one, not easily sum- marised. A dragon who -lives with the Browns might so easily be appallingly arch and tiresome—but Mr. Forester has a fertile invention (what happens when a fiery dragon swallows an ice-cream soda?), an agieeable wit in the Just-so tradition, and tells the episcdes with great ease, good humour, and a proper sense of formality : an excellent book for reading aloud (6-40). It is difficult to suggest the right age for Smoozie, for the true, vivid but fierce adventures of the Alaskan reindeer fawn might be too strong for a tender-hearted ten-year-old, though a less vulnerable child of seven or eight might be enthusiastic. Miss Savage obviously knows all about reindeer, and can tell a moving story without gush. Gush and excitability, italics and exclamation marks, eharacterise the stories in the Happy collection, and the pert, unfantastic pixies and goblins are like their counterparts en the worst Christmas cards. From the size of the print, the collection must be meant for children to read to themselves, so perhaps 6 to to are the appro- priate ages; but in clearness the print of The Golden Hen is better, though not so big. Gnomes and magic happenings come into Timothy's Cony:4,-er, but much less fussily; the fantasies are well thought-out—for instance a magic glass which makes the railways on picture-maps operate when you look at them. The latest John and Mary book iS an equal mixture of village happenings, and the adventures in Japan which Miss Rose Brown tells the two children.
The last two books are children's novels. In lenny Spring two children escape from an orphanage, and are hidden by the family at the Manor. Although the flavour is a trifle county, the children are well observed, the incidents dramatic, and the story swings along briskly (7-11). The Runaway Boy of Marjorie Dixon's story is eight years old, but the book's delicately evoked atmosphere, and moderately complex plot, would only be fully appreciated by rather older children (to-t5). The scene is the West of Ireland in the Troubles ; and Miss Dixon's handling of the way the battles, burnings and killings impinge on the boy's consciousness, makes this probably the best book on the list. These happenings in Ireland twenty years ago are about the only mention of war in the
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