New-York tribune., 1871-12-12
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
CUYLDREN's BOOKS.

living midway between the toc, pietho'c Vi oNs"'
nlums and the top, whence head OF waxen uon Ut
tsil Of wooly sheep protrudes, which region Is IN
most households devoted 70 literature. The nur-
.erv elves know what to expect, and, spying tne
suggestive sauareness Of the stocking leg at tins
mint they cry out: ~ know what that funny
thing il which sticks out so-it g n book. Mamma
mamma, there is book in my stocking" And ao,
sorbed in fairy tale Mother GOoee the upper an"
lower strata are for moment forgotten 'ho wv"
neglected, the bon-bOns uneaten Tor. chaf,n my
never 60 strongly where is the toy or sweet "ion'
vie In the eyes of q story-lovnq child Win 'n0
sistible fascination of q new book
Each Christmas secs generous provision n,nuo io'
this lstOckingl department of literature loh 10 ~
no respect behind it's fellows. Turn whelo "o n'"S
we find the booksellers shelves piled with many
co,ore1 voluues b;o and little, choice aud cheap
suteJ 70 every taste and every pocket tales OF ad-
venture. Of natural history cunning rhymes
,ink,,no like fa;ry-bells in baby ears and setting
bsby.fect nstinctively a-dancing; pages where fun
and facts are SO cunningly blended that chiioen
cry for the sugarcd dose as for sootmng sfup ana
Others richly illuminated as ancient missal whlch
glow with curve and color % perfect and harmohi
ons that bending over the small absorbed readers
ewes trained in art will inger and admire And YET
we are told that the holiday freight is but han ar
rived and tempting things of all sorts are PROMISED
fOr-"neNt
No kind parental Santa Claus, however, who hap
mems 70 he in town lust now or is anxious to dispose
of the onerous present question without delay need
IA, state to make his selections, or dread any en-
barassment, save that pleasant one which comes
from multiplicity Of choice.
~ tho moro noteworthy uld striking of the
Christmas books On hand we chronicle, first LORD
Houchtons poem Of Good Night and Good Morn
ino Roberts Brothers, Boston, precedence earned
by the very finish and perfection OF it's iilustra
tions The pretty rhymes are known to many OF our
readers. They begin:
"A fair little eirl sat under q tree.
Sewing as hong as her eyes e1nld ,a1; seG; ;,,o,.
And said, Dear work good night, good night;
md co on to tell how the same little girl, after
making her sanitation to the crows, the cattle, ana
the daylight says her prayers, goes to BED, ana
soeps till the sun shines into the window and wakes
her with good morning. Each verse, printed in
color occupies o separate page, and ls framed IN
design which is half illumination half steel engrav
ing entirely novel in idea and exquisite In execn-
ton It's only fault is that of being too exquisite
too dainty and choice to be exposed to the risk OF
defacement from the ardent thumbs of the yOnng
admirers whom it is sure to charm. But 1t is just the
book for Amty or Godmamma TO present. with the un-
dcrstandipg that it shall be laid aside for hgh-days
and HOLIDAYS till Pet is old enough to value 1t
rightly; and even coupled with this hard condition
W. congratulate each little owner into whose pos
session it happens to come. From Messrs.
Roberts we have also Doll Horld, by the
author Of " Daisy's Companons"-a comical mar
rati,c of the haps and mishaps of compile of small
householdcIs and the wood-andwax children whom
they cherished and believed in. Mrs. OReiy's boys
aud girls apt to and converse in language
que beyond their years hut to counterbaancc this
fault their logic ard the scrapes they get into are
essentially childish and the atmosphere of her books
is admiralty healthy and well-bred. Doll World "
contains several fresh and pretty episodes-as, for in
stance when Birdie and her brother, withithat pro-
pensity relieve suffering at the expense of other
people which is common to us all, give away Miss
Topsy's loaf Of bread to the beggar boy and where
ltlc Guy fired by quotation from Carlyle, con-
cevcs it his duty to "toil," and contracts to pick
stones at threepence day. And we are sure that
even in these degenerate times some genuine doll
lovers exist who will echo the Mortified exclama
ton: Give away O Doll! Do you suppose il
mamma met person in distress. she would give her
an old child who was rather faded and did MT amnse
her much' OF course it's the same thing"
From Macmillan & Co. come three pretty volumes
illustrated by Frolich-Puss and Robin, rhymed
tale about cats. by Tom Hood; Little Lucys Von-
decfd Glote, by Charlotte NJ. Yonge, book wherein
the small heroine indulges in series of dreams about
different countries, thus teaching herself kind of
fairy geography and Henry Kingsley's Lost
CkiId a sad little prose poem of the Australian
BUSH hardly to be classed with prOprlety among
juvenile ctions, but full of tender pathos which
won applause from older readers when it appeared
some years ago in the novel of "GeOffrey Hanlyn."
Moonssine, by Z. H. Knatchbull- Hugessen, NJ. P,
aso from Macmillan, is as good as christmas
Crackers" which delighted many nurseries last
year. Whatever Mr.. Knatchbull- Hugessen may merit
from his cOuntrymen in his capacity of NJ. p, he
fIo n1c of fhor< oh;
dren His oTes and fairies models of their kind,
and not writer in a thousand possesses the same
knack at individualizing Natural History. and
making beasts and birds entertaining The stories of
tie "PiovcnGcr Bees and " The Boy and Birds'
are examples of this delightful gift. Now and then,
to be sure he drops his ward and becomes feaIfuly
grown up for q page or 80, and we know little
maiden whose wont it is to emphasize these pauses,
which, like Sclah in the Psalms sound
aid interruption to her ears by walking across the
and looking out of window till the mOralizngi
over and the regular narrative begins again. But
We are all mortal, and SO infrequent fault may be
forgiven writer otherwise entertaining.
Then there is Nine Years Old, by the author Of
"St Olaves," book which will meet warm wei.
at the hands of such small readers as are for
ever demanding, What did You do when yOu were
httleY The narrator goes back mo easy feat to the
precise childish point of view Of which she writes and
such being the need not say that she inter.
este her audience We fancy some children Of our
acquaintance will be inclined, as they read to wish
that they had been blessed with the enchanting
grandmother, whose "Three little gray curls
ON each side of her face shook about like
slvery wings whenever she laughed" whose
muif and pocket bore perennial sugar candy and
almond tOfee and whose chief delight consisted in
playing such tricks her granddaughter as pinning