The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-13 00:00:00

T E SU N,

JUVENILE GIFT BOOKS.

DANISH FAIRY LEGENDS AND TALES.

By Hans Christian Andersen. Second Edition.

CHILD'S PLAY; NURSERY LAPS AND

LULLABIES. Seventeen Drawings. By E. V.B.
THE LITTLE SISTER. By Mrs. Ilarriet
Myrtle; with Sixteen Illustrations by R.J. Schneider.
NEW TALES FROM FAERY LAND.

HOME AND SITS PLEASURES. With il-
lustrations by Hablot K. Browne.
AUNT EFFIE'S RHYMES FOR LITTLE
CHILDREN. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne.

KINDNESS AND CRUELTY. Addey and Co.
Looking at the heap of brightly-bound and beau-
tifully-illustrated books now lying on our table we
can well understand how many a group of " toddlin
wee things" in the nursery, and many a band of
youngsters " home for the holidays," will be glad-
dened by a share of these literary and pictorial
treasures so appropriately brought forward by
Messrs. Addey at this season. All ages and tastes may
be satisfied from this variety—from the infant lover
of a 66 picture-book" to the learned Miss in her teens!
Foremost of the list we must particularise the new
edition of Hans Christian Andersen's delightful fairy
legands and tales, and this is, moreover, the " com-
plete" edition, for whereas the former volume con-
tained only fourteen tales, the present one contains
no less than forty-five. Among these we gladly
recognise that beautiful allegory so oddly named
" The Ugly Duckling," which some time back was
quoted entire in Blackwood's Magazine, as a
specimen, and a most felicitous specimen, of the
narratives of this charming writer. Nut the least
attractive of the articles of this attractive volume
is the memoir of the author—the son of a shoemaker,
destined by his parents to gain his livelihood as a
tailor, but now the possessor of no mean celebrity,
and not only admired, but loved wherever his
gentle heart and genial nature are appreciated.
Turning from our old Danish favourite, we take up
(in a covering of pale violet, lettered with gold) the
seventeen drawings by E. V. 8., illustrative of
‘` Childs' Play." "Deep meaning lieth oft in
childish play," says a quotation from Schiller on the
title-page, and many a hidden lesson may be gathered
from those nursery rhymes, which are entwined with
" the pleasures of memory" to most of us. E. V. B.
has illustrated many of these old ditties with a grace-
ful pencil. Nothing can be more charming than the
frontispiece, which represents groups of happy, lovely
children at play. Perhaps there is too much re-
semblance between the childish countenances—like

the guardian angels of Sir Joshua Reynolds,
they appear all suggested by one model,
but it may be the little groups are supposed
to consist of brothers and sisters, and hence our cri-
ticism is uncalled for. Very beautiful is the illuss
tration of " Twinkle, twinkle, little star," and also of
the happy party " picking up gold and silver" in that
California of childhood, " Tom Tittler's ground."
Two or three of the plates are not so delicately
finished as the rest, but on the whole ".Child's Play"
is likely to afford child's pleasure, and, perhaps,
child's profit also. " Home and its Pleasures," and
the " Little Sister," are delightful children's stories,
from the pen of Mrs. Myrtle. " Home and its Plea-
sures" contains eight very interesting stories, such as
" The Holiday," " The Mail Train," " Work and
Play," Stc. and it is adorned with eight coloured
pictures, by Hablot K. Browne. To a number
of little readers this volume will be the
most attractive of the above-mentioned list,
or possibly it may be rivalled by " The Little Sister,"
which consists not of a series of stories, but of one
longer tale, the history of a little family—their joys
and sorrows, faults and good deeds ; as no lessons are
so instructive as those of example, we doubt not the
career of the little sister and her brothers will be a
profitable as well as an amusing study. Sixteen
beautiful illustrations by Schneider increase the value
of the book, which, like its companions, is most
handsome in its appearance. "New Tales from Faery
Land" are suited to those elder readers above men-
tioned, whose dignity would he hurt by the offer of a
child's book. To these the tales of this volume—
" The Pearl Blessings"—" The Triumph of Truth"
—" The Brothers," and " Christabel ; or, Night
Wanderings with the Fairies," will be highly
welcome. These stories are beautifully written, and
possess the same fascinating interest, and teach the
same good lesson as those old fairy tales so long and
so generally " beloved as fable and believed as truth."
" Kindness and Cruelty" is an excellent little tale,
well deserving of an entrance into every nursery.
Cowper would not enter OR his list of friends the
man who needlessly set foot upon a worm, and he
was right. Cruelty of disposition in a child augurs
little for the good heart of the man or woman it is
hereafter to become. The lesson taught by the ad-
ventures of Edward and Stephen, the heroes of
this tale, is worthy of perusal, as may be sur-
mised, when we mention that its author, Dr.
Perner, is the founder of the Munich So-
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Last, but not least, we must notice " Aunt Effie's
Rhymes for Little Children." in illustrating which
the graceful pencil of Hablot K. Browne has indulged
in some of its most graceful and grotesque vagaries ;
as an instance of, which, we would fain extract a
page of " The Little Hare," in which the various
incidents' and mishaps of a hunt are portrayed in the
most felicitous manner. Again, the " Spirit of the
Wine"—that mischievous sprite " that made the
bubbles shine, and splashed about within the cup
amidst the rosy wine '—is pictured as the most mali-
cious of the evil genii, racking the poor drinker's
head with horrible pains and stealing his wits away--
the picture is enough to give any one the headache.
Who Aunt Effie may be we know not, for no other
name is given, but her rhymes for little children will
be favourites in many nurseries. They are all pleasing
in style, and thei lessons they teach are suggested in
a most felicitous manner.