JUNIOR BOOKGUIDE

Ages three to seven Picture Books

Birds by Brian Wild smith (our 16s). An absorbing book of rich paintings, each illumin- ating the essential characteristics of swan, heron, penguin, owl, etc. First in a series de- signed by this outstanding' artist and the Oxford University Press for the young child to revel in on his own.

B is for bear by Dick Bruna (Methuen 12s 6d). All that: the Bruna addict would ex- pect of an a b c by this highly individual Dutchman; simple, bold, colourful pictures of familiar objects opposite a large black lower- case letter. Snow White and Red Riding Hood by the same artist (Methuen 6s each) are basic retellings, for four year olds, of the familiar fairy tales with a static but exciting pioture (don't miss the wolf's lolling, hungry tongue in 'Red Riding Hood') at each opening.

The Fooling of King Alexander by Mervyn Skipper and Gaynor Chapman (Hamish Hamil- ton 15s). A delightful story about a wise old conqueror fooled by a cunning young China- man. Illustrated in bright, subtly designed pictures by Gaynor Chapman, an artist whose work is already familiar to straphangers and will surely soon become the rave of the nursery.

The Speckled. Hen by Harve and Margot Zemach (Bodley Head 12s 6d). An absurd story from Russia about the cumulative consequences of breaking the Speckled Hen's egg. Destined to be asked for over and over again as a bed- time story because young children love disaster and respond to the humour underlying it. Wild, serio-comic pictures entirely in tune.

The Four Clever Brothers by Felix Hoffman (our 17s 6d). The latest addition to this Swiss artist's series of picture books based on Grimm. A threatening green dragon, claws out- stretched, hovers with intent over the brothers' fragile ship: this will thrill or repel five year olds according to toughness.

Mr Faksimily and the Tiger by Anita Hewitt and Robert Broomfield (Bodley Head 13s 6d). The story of the many obstacles overcome by a fat little photographer who goes into the jungle to take a picture of a Tiger is told in delectable repetitive phrases and humorous pictures by this now expert author-artist team.

The Fantastic Toy-Shop by Lisi Well (Abelard-Schuman 16s) and Cinderella by Beni Montresor (Collins 15s). Two Rossini-inspired picture books for stage-struck children over seven. Lisi Weil's kinetic, untidy cartoon (with wisps of music floating over the page) tells the story of the Rossini-Respighi ballet, La Boutique Fantasque. Brightly coloured floodlit sets for the stage illustrate this gorgeous book which is permeated with the excitement of the theatre.

Story Books

Mary Kate and the Jumble Bear by Helen Morgan (Faber 12s 6d). Quiet, sensible domes- tic stories in which love and security play major roles. Mary Kate goes to hospital, is a bridesmaid, helps to make a bird-table. For bedtime reading to girls of about four or by their elder sisters up to seven.

li.or's Outing by Oliver Postgate (Abelard- Schuman I is 6d). A noisier story for engine- 4n frig boys in the same age-range Deliciously funny illustrations by Peter Firmin spatter the pages of this Welsh branch line fantasy in which Ivor the Engine sings first bass for the Grumbly and District Choral Society. 'You know, Dai bach, it's not often you see a railway engine really enjoying himself!'

A Day at Bullerby by Astrid Lindgren (Methuen 9s 6d). The Swedish farm children, already well known to English children aged four to seven, try to give the baby a day full of treats but find her woefully unappreciative. lion Wiklund's bright, clear pictures of paint- daubed kids and howling babies a great attraction.

The Nursery 'Alice' by Lewis Carroll (Con- stable: Dover Books lOs 6d). A facsimile of Carroll's own adaptation of Alice in Wonder- land for small children, published in 1890, with illustrations coloured by, or under the super- vision of, Tenniel, price one shilling. For the Carroll collector (the introduction is by Martin Gardner) and for his very young children too.

Ages seven to ten . New Stories

On a Dolphin's Back by Katherine Allfrey (Methuen 21s). Reality and Greek myth mingle beguilingly as Andrula, a lonely orphan, solves many personal problems with the help of a dolphin. Girls over seven.

Mossy Trotter by Elizabeth Taylor (Chatto 16s). A sensitive, full-length story, not consis- tently on the seven year old level, about a tar- loving seven year old boy whose path is sticky in more ways than one. Mother is pregnant and tetchy, father worried about cash, little Emma a trial. Can a fellow be expected to sur- vive all this and the indignity of being a page- boy at dreadful Miss Silkin's wedding? Alison the bridesmaid opens a new door for Mossy.

How Varinka Grew Up in a Single Night by Leo Tolstoy (Dobson I8s). Varinka, heroine of this delicate Russian idyll, sits in a box in the theatre and during the interval meets the handsome boy in the box next door. That night Varinka dreams about Sasha. . . . This story is presented in large picture book form with swirling, blotchy illustrations by Hilary Abrahams. Girls, mainly, about nine.

Mogo's Flute by Hilda van Stockum (Con- stable Young Books 13s 6d). A tough yet tender story in which human joys and sad- nesses are as bright and dark as Africa itself. Mogo, a weakling Kikuyu boy, has to abandon his beloved flute for a while in order to take his place among the men of his tribe. The poetry of the text is mirrored in Robin Jacques's beautiful illustrations. For boys and girls eight to nine.

Myeko's Gift by Kay Hougaard (Abelard- Schuman 16s). Myeko, a Japanese girl newly arrived in California, learns that American children are more ready to accept her for what she is than as an awkward imitation of them- selves. Rice, origami, a bamboo arrangement, a kimono, all help to bring Myeko the friend- ship she ardently desires. Girls eight to ten. -Calling Questers Four by E. H. Hildick (Brockhampton 15s). There's enough excitement in this simply written adventure story to make the good motive seem to be merely incidental. With the aid of a walkie-talkie radio a bed- bound boy detective helps his mates catch a gang of railway wreckers. Boys eight up.

the Secret of the Dancing Bear by Henry Continued from page 655 Delaney (Methuen 15s). A breathless, U.N.C.L.E.- type thriller for boys of about nine in which the Howard family, under the generalship of their crime-writer papa, rescue an Austrian Professor of Physics from a gang of kidnappers in Istanbul.

Mary Anning's Treasures by Helen Bush (Gollancz 16s). A simple fictional account of the childhood of Mary Anning, orphan, who started to collect fossils on Lyme Regis beach to sell for pennies but became famous when she found the skeleton of the Ichthyosaurus in 1811. Stimulating cliff-top reading: boys and girls over nine.

Jessamy by Barbara Sleigh (Collins 13s 6d). The Snowstorm by Beryl Netherclift (Hutchin- son 15s). Two enchanting fantasies for over nines, each starting with an old house and gliding away into the past. Jessamy shares an Edwardian family's adventures. The children in The Snowstorm find they can trace the history of the house they are staying in from Eliza- bethan times to the present day.

Poetry and Legend

A Grain of Sand by William Blake (Bodley Head 18s). Rosemary Manning's selection of Blake's poems for young readers; illustrated with his own engravings.

1 Saw a Rocket Walk a Mile (Bodley Head 18s). Carl Withers's hilarious collection of non- sense stories and poems from all over the world.

The High Deeds of Finn Mac Cool by Rose- mary Sutcliff and The Vinland Story by Henry Treece (Bodley Head 18s each). Top-flight his- torical novelists retell vividly some tales from Irish and Icelandic folklore.

Facts

Exploring Everyday Expressions by Geoffrey Palmer and Noel Lloyd (Odhams lOs 6d). You pass the buck with flying colours in the doldrums? You'll be sent to Coventry on your high horse to buy a pig in a poke! Some fas- cinating explanations of the weird things we say. In the same series Exploring Earth History and Exploring Rocks, excursions into two aspects of geology by Patrick Moore (10s 6d each).

The Golden Band by Alan C. Jenkins (Methuen 21s). Promising first volume of a new series called 'The World we are Making? The story of how Holland reclaimed land from the sea, told clearly, dramatically and with attention of technical detail.

Your Book of Parliament by D. M. Pren- tice (Faber 12s 6d). An historical survey, well illustrated from contemporary sources.

Ages ten to thirteen Novels

Wilderness Friend by Charles Perkins (Con- stable Young Books 15s). A deeply moving boy-and-dog story set in the wilds of Canada; trappers, Mounties, small-town folk and a fine doctor play their part in saving Mollie, the St Bernard, from a petty magistrate's extermina- tion order. Boys and girls about ten.

A Boy Called Walt by Dorothy Qewes (Collins 15s). Walt, a decent bike-mad Wage hand, wants to impress his girl so he 'borrows' a Mini to take her to the meeting in style: but there's a small boy hidden under the rug....

tont.' AuleztlE &ILIPttit

It's not only boys like Walt who yield to temp- tation and fall foul of the law. The author succeeds in painting light but true characters and underlining moral values without ever being censorious. Boys and girls over twelve need more books like this one.

A Grove of Green Holly by Barbara Willard (Constable Young Books 16s). A first-rate his- torical novel which grips on several levels: romance, the stage, religion, old Sussex. An erstwhile Shakespearian actor lives in hiding with his grandchildren in Ashdown Forest during the Protectorate. Will his grandson Rafe become an actor after the Restoration or stay on in the Forest as a blacksmith and marry Kate? Brilliant dialogue, bubbling with life. Boys and girls over twelve.

The Hawk by Ronald Welch (O.U.P 15s). Boys over eleven with salt in their blood will lap up this story of privateering in Armada times; full details about ballistics, equipment and manoeuvring of galleons fall quietly into place.

The Cruise of the Santa Maria by Eilis Dillon (Faber 18s). A modern sailing story set in Galway Bay; but it is a combination of super- stition and a sour old hermit's daydream that provides the impetus for the adventure of two mainland boys who sail a new hooker, said to be accursed, from naherty's Island to Spain. This author looks you straight in the eye and holds you spellbound.

The White Mountains by John Christopher (Hamish Hamilton 16s). Space Winners by Gordon R. Dickson (Faber 16s). Two SF novels, superior but none the less hair-raising. Twelve plus.

Reprints and New Editions

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Puffin 3s 6d). A weird but compulsive SF story from America.

The Namesake by Walter Hodges (Puffin 3s 6d). A stirring historical novel set in the reign of Alfred the Great.

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (Arco 18s), also Verne's Down the Amazon, The Cryptogram and Drama in Livonia in the same series.

Facts

Pharaohs of Egypt by Jacquetta Hawkes (Cas- sell Caravel Book 18, 25s). A splendid history of Ancient Egypt with golden illustrations to entice the young Egyptologist.

The Secret of the Mysterious Rays by Vivian Grey (Constable Young Books 16s). The en- thralling story of the discovery of nuclear energy traced through the work of Röntgen, the Curies, Einstein and Fermi.

The Golden Age of Steam by. John Pudney (Hanish Hamilton 63s). Who, looking through this large nostalgic album of the steam age, can fail to regret its passing? And yet . . .

Tiger in the Snow by Walter Unsworth (Gollancz 18s). Second volume of the story of mountaineering ingeniously told through the biographies of great mountaineers: this time A. F. Mummery is on the rope.

Heroes and Aeroplanes of the Great War 1919-1918 by Joseph A. Phelan (Barker 42s). A mammoth mixture of history, biography, medals and aeronautical engineering.

My Name is Eusebio by Eusebio da Silva Ferrera (Routledge 18s). Illustrated auto- biography for soccer fans.

Junior Bookguide has been compiled by Elaine Moss.