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22 WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1922 LITERARY EDITION CONCERNING RECENT BOOKS FOR CHIL- DREN", © "A literary review," said the voice of the program chairman on the tele- phone, "and .please consider no mate- rial published prior to 1920." "May I take recent children's literature?" "You may indeed." And that is how I came to spend so much of July and August in libraries and bookshops, or in occasional bookish chats with child friends. And these are a few of the many things we found. : Among fairy-tales, two volumes have lately come, by way of the Occident, out of China, Dr. Wilhelm's "Chinese Fairy Book," translated by Frederick Martens, and Norman Hinsdale Put- nam's "Chinese Wonder Book," exquis- itely. illustrated. A Jugo-Slavic col- lection of folk-tales assembled and retold by Parker Fillmore, displays some very cubistic illustrations. 1 cannot help wondering how the chil- dren take these pictures. But chiefly my own little. daughter enjoyed the "Swedish Fairy Book," translated by Martens from the Swedish of Clara Stoebe. Its color-plates are really beautiful, the wild landscape vividly and - simply suggested. From India, BE. C. Babbitt has gathered "More Jataka Tales" fables akin to those of Aesop but taken from the old San- scrit. These like her earlier "Jakata" book are quaintly illustrated in sil- houettes. Padraic Colum, story-teller and writ- er, has contributed notably to the store of recent juvenile literature. Just how far so fine a writer is justified in expanding and revamping the Cin- derella story into "The Girl Who Sat by the Ashes" and moulding certain elements from "Arabian Nights" and the Arthurian legends into "A Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter," is open to question. But I do respect Colum's frankly retold tales, "The Golden Fleece" and "The Adventures of Odys- seus," which, together, cover most of Greek mythology, and "The Children of Odin," which does as much and as excellently for the Norse. Colum's works are all worthily illustrated, the fairy-tales artistically--if a bit con- fusingly--by Dugald Stuart Walker and the retold tales by Willy Pogany, *- =hose powerful outline drawings re- call the Homeric plates of Flaxman. Apropos of fairy tales, L. Frank Baum died but his spirit lives in child- | ren's literature. From his unfinished notes Ruth Plumley Thompson evolv- ed the "Royal Book of Oz." This year she herself has produced The Ka- 'bumpo in Oz" to continue the series. Among realistic tales of foreign countries we discovered "When I Was a Boy in Norway," by J. O. Hall and "When I Was a Boy in Persia." My small daughter finds boy-narratives of less interest than did her brothers. But a few years ago one of our own north shore writers devised a scheme for meting such a sex-problem. Every little while Mrs. Lucy Fitch Perkins of Evanston, publishes a new "Twin Book" in which a boy and a girl share adventures. Her latest are the "Ital fan" and the "Puritan Twins," illus- trated by her own simple but expres- sive little sketches. For older chil- dren comes Katharine Adam's lovely "Midsummer," a story of an American boy and girl, on a visit to relatives in Sweden. It is a bit of a mystery story too, and suprisingly well writ- ten. Two tales of adventure for older boys have attracted special at- tention, "The Mutineers" and "The Great Quest" both by Charles Bord- man Hawes. In these days of adult biography it is but natural that, outside of Van Loon's admirable "History of Man- kind," the historical output for chil- dren seems less noteworthy than does the biographical. Among the bio- graphical sketches I was especially in- terested in Eva March Tappan's "He- roes of Progress" and in one book for more mature young people. "The Tra- vels and Adventures of Raphael Pum- pelly, Mining Engineer, Geologist and Explorer," abridged by O. 8S. Rice from Pumpelly's "Reminiscences." Of course the most ambitious work of nature study is the "Outline of Science," by J. Arthur Thompson of Aberdeen University. While not pri- marily intended for them, our young people are seizing upon these four volumes with avidity. Indeed the "Outline" was first put into my hands by a boy of twelve, who wrote in a little reveiw: "I like this book because it isn't cut and dried. It explains things in a human and natural way with interesting pictures instead of charts and diagrams. It tells you the things you want to know." One might dwell at some length on recent instructive literature for young people, but I must not neglect three fanciful tales, two of which at least are masterpieces. The first, a beau- tiful edition, is Walter De La Mare"s «Three Mulla Mulgars" a tragic tale of three monkey-brothers, with a happy ending written throughout with in- comparable beauty. The second is «Doctor Doolittle" told and illustrated by Hugh Lofting. John Doolittle, M. D. of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh is so good to animals, in sickness and health, that his human (and paying) patients desert him. How he falls upon hard | times, is helped by the animals, how. he sails with them to Africa to cure sick monkeys and comes back re- warded with their gift of the only sur- viving Push-Me-Pull-You, a shy two- headed beastie, through which he makes a fortune, are the contents of this astonishing little volume. The third fanciful tale is the 'Memoirs of a London Doll," told by 'herself and edited by Mrs. Fairstair, a book seventy-five years old, lost and out of print. Not long ago it was unearth- ed from the dusty shelves of an about- to-be-moved library in Brooklyn by Clara Whitehill Hunt, and reprinted in the original size and type with new illustrations. My little girlfriends. it sounds "as though the doll had really written it." CA In the field of children's verse we ran upon certain humorous 'books, Belloc's "Cautionary Tales" from which Henry King, ("who ate string") and Matilda ("who told lies") have al- ready become famiiiar in musical set- ings. There are also Nancy Bird Tur- ner's dainty "Zodiac Town" and Kath arine Pyle's "Lazy Matilda" which (contrary to all exceptions) so im- pressed a certain little girl, that I im- agine I can see an improvement in her deportment since its persual. But closer to my heart than the humorous stuff are two books of verse that have appealed to children, al- though unillustrated. And that speaks very well for a child's book. They are "Songs for Parents" by John Far- rar and "Fairies and Chimneys" by Rose Fyleman. A third volume, which I love, tho I am not sure how far children will grasp its subleties, is Walter De La Mare's "Down-Adown- Derry" (in small-part reprinted from his '"Peacock-Pie") with quaint pic- tures by Dorothy Lathrop, illustrator of "The Three Mulla Mulgars." "Down-Adown-Derry" closes with this little poem: "As 1 came out of Wiseman's Street, The air was thick with driving sleet; Crossing over Proudman's Square, Cold clouds and louring dulled the air; But as I turned to Goodman's Lane, The burning sun came out again; And on the roof of Children's Row In solemn glory shone the snow. There did I lodge; there hope to die: Envying no man--no, not I." --Grace Neahr Veeder. FOR MOTHERS Every father or mother who wishes to create in his child taste for books that are really worthwhile must first of all be convinced himself that liter- ature bears a vital relation to life and to show how men live their lives, and that it is not, therefore, a superfluity but a necessity both for himself and his child. The best literature not only quickens the imagination, an activity of mind, which rightly governed and directed, lies at the bottom of most of the world's great achievements, but it also deepens the emotions, the quick response to all fine feeling widens knowledge and interests and opens innnmerable windows on the beauties of the universe. Valuable as all this is, however, literature has a still more important function to perform. Since it is a true exposition of human nature and life, its most valuable func- tion is to furnish men with a mirror in which they may see themselves. Exactly as a looking-glass enables the lady peering into it to see what in her appearance is beautiful, as it should be, and what is in need of altering, so does the really worthwhile book enable men to recognize what qualities in themselves are truly fine and as they should be, what are ugly an in need of altering. It en- ables them, furthermore, to see whether these qualities, worked out their issues in life, will lead for good or evil, for joy or sorrow, and it ac- complishes all this by no means through preaching, but through such vivid portrayal of the characters and their actions as grips the interest and moves the very depths of the heart. From this standpoint then, nothing can be much more vital than good books in moulding the standards by which men live their lives, in opening their eyes to see what in life is truly beautiful and fine and what is utterly ugly and false, a separation by no means so distinctly accomplished as yet in human thought as man may imagine. Every worth while book might be called an adventure in ex- ploring the human soul, and the dis- coveries made therein often enough astonish the discoverer himself, so com- pletely do they reverse many of his oldest and most closely cherished opinions. How often does he find a mountain peak of beauty where he never even dreamed one existed, and a desert of ugliness in what he had thought to be purely a spot of beauty! For this reason, then, the mother or father must see for himself why he would fish to eschew the sensational, the sentimental, the overdrawn and the cheap, which are not true, and confine himself to that literature which does present human nature, albeit through the most fanciful fairy tales, fairly and squarely. Whether a hero be a commonplace individual in a workday world, or the romantic center of highway fanciful adventures, he is, in either case, an image for the expression of human nature, and what each has to con- tribute to our view of life may be equally true. Thus for old and young, the truly worthwhile book may always be a spiritual adventure, offering ever new discoveries, ever new vistas, and what each gets out of it will depend on the hardihood with which he sails those seas, the alertness of his look- out, and the willingness with which he changes his mind, and hence his course, whenever he sees the reason for doing so. The importance of good oooks hav- ing thus been clearly recognized, the next step is to begin with the smallest children, to have a story hour, when parents and little ones read together, and to select for that hour the very best books obtainable. The joy and blessing of that story hour in gaining a child's confidence and in instilling into him quite unconsciously right views of life and a right standard of values is incalculable. Mothers and fathers must not only read to and with their children, ut they must thorough- ly enjoy doing so. If they are bored by what the are reading, there is either something the matter with them or with the book! And they cannot hold the child enthralled if they are not enthralled themselves. The vital elements of a child's book, as of an adult's, are beauty and truth, and though the images through which these vital elements are expressed may be somewhat different in a child's book from what they are in an adult's, the truth and beauty are universal and without age limitation in their appeal to the eternal child hidden in every normal grown-up's heart, and will res- pond to those beautiful images and enjoy them whole-heartedly if only the grownup will yield to the child in his soul (a surrender, by the way, which often makes the story hour of even more value to the grownup than to the little ones). The depth of the impression which any story makes upon a child may be calculated by the depth of interest which it has awak- ened in him, and, therefore, mothers and fathers must choose such books as can hold the interest of all. A third point to keep well in mind is that, in selecting stories for chil- dren, their stage of mental develop- ment should always be taken into consideration. Children should not be given stories too old for them; let these stories wait until the child can get the most out of them. Young children should never be given stories which will frighten them or overplay their emotions. There is a right time and a wrong time for them to con- sider the various problems of human existence. Let the problem with which a particular story deals and the manner in which it is presented be adapted to the maturity of the child's intellect and the control he has over his emotions at the time you give it to him. In addition to care on this point, however, equal care should be taken not to make the converse mis- take of giving a child a story too young for him, of feeding him on men- tal pap when he is beginning to be ready for meat, and so stunting his mental and spiritual growth. If mothers and fathers keep up this story hour as long as possible, and always afterwards show themselves to be eagerly interested in what the child is reading, recognizing that in the best books, as in all art, ap- preciation is without age limitation. They may reasonably hope that, though the child will undoubtedly go through a period, at some time or other, of reading everything, good, bad, and indifferent, the foundation beauty and truth, which will lead him to see for himself the poorness of the poor and the value of the good, and so, gradually to choose for himself and through his own understanding, only what is actually fine and worthwhile. --Olive Beaupre Miller, Editor of MY BOOK HOUSE. GAIRING FINE ARTS * F. I. Barnhart, Prop. New and exclusive line of picture and mirror frames. prints Framed pictures, and novelties. Choice assortment of Christmas cards now on sale. Do your Chrismas shopping early. 1613 Orrington Ave. Evanston, Phone Ev. 770 | WAYS OF WRITERS "Timothy's Quest," by Kate Douglas Wiggin, which is still selling steadily, although published over thirty years ago, has now gone on to the screen. The filming was undertaken by the Dirigo Film Company of Portland, Me., who were able to stage the scenes at the very part of country that the author laid the scenes of the story. ---- It will be an abnormal youngster who will not find the greatest delight in "Kari, the Elephant," by Dhan Gopal Mukerji, which E. P. Dutton & Co. published last week. While Kari was still a baby elephant he was given to the author in his childhood in India, to take care of and so they grew up together, with great love be: tween them. The book contains a series of anecdotes about Kari, how he was trained aud cared for, how he learned to work, little tales of odd happenings that reveal the elephant's intelligence, the travels upon which he went. There is a number of full page illustrations. i The rs ) Evening @ Chas { \ hy) S| Ege A ar rnir" The Cathedral----December Love Gigolo---The Just Steward First Plays ¥ Literary force "He sees life steadily and sees it whole--yet keeps his temper and his hopes," says the Chicago Evening Post of Hugh Walpole. This acknowledged liter- ary force has created an- other novel that is the work of a masterful realist yet very beautiful in con- cept. The Cathedral is the intimate story of a life that is built strong and beauti- ful and inspired as the cathedral which was erect- ed and came to tottering ruin simultaneously with it and the faith to which it was dedicated. The Cathe- dral, a novel with all the warm humanity of Forti- tudes, idea ians vee $2.00 Romance A sister story of The Gar- den of Allah and Bella Donna is Robert Hichen's romance of brilliant Lon- don and Paris society en- titled: December Love. aE oe 200 The loving touch Another group of short stories by well - beloved Edna Ferber! Hers is the loving touch of a great hu- man sympathizer combin- ed with the kindly humor that is possible only to the very tolerant. Deliberately choosing to write about the most commonplace characters, she endows them with a romantic quality that is unequalled by any but O. Henry, him- self. A spice, a sauce, an effervescence -- whatever you wish to call it--it is, after all, just Edna Ferber. T he selection contains partake of Miss Ferber's best. They are entitled: 1. Gigolo 2. The Afternoon of a Faun. 3. Old Man Minick 4. The Home Girl 5. If T Should Ever Travel 6. Ain't Nature Wonder- ful 7. The Sudden Sixties 8. Not a Day Over Twen- ty-One Gigolo mum 581s Foreign flavor By the author of The Dope Doctor, a new novel en- titled The Just Steward. The scene is set in Smyrna and the novel is a treasure trove for the travel hun- gry. It is a story of the old conflict between faith and savagery on the primi- tive borderlands of Chris- tendom. The novel is dedi- cated "To That Day When All Faiths Shall Be Merg- ed In One Faith. To The Hope That Lives Waiting The Opening of the Gate." All the lure and mystery of the occult are present in The Just Steward ..$2.00 The lure of the play The charms of playwriting as a luxury are the inspira- tion of a group entitled First 'Plays, 'by "A. A. Milne, author of Mr. Pim Passes By. The plays are entitled: 1. Wurzel Flummery 2. The Lucky One . 3. The Boy Comes Home 4. Belinda 5. The Red Feathers: eight precious stories that The collection ......$2.50 "The Nicest Store:ln Town: , ' Fountain L 0 R D S Square ed