Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-11
THE CRITIC.

Those That are bent Tor the Little Fol
Juvenile Prose- and the Romance
Requires-Other Lines Of Literature
Sergeant Won, Arthur Merton and TheI
Opposites-The Gear Reading Kennan'
Works.
20, monstrousI but one-half pennyworth o
bread to this intolerable deal of sack! Evi
IDENTIFY, Sir John was more thirsty than hungry
He ordered more sack than bread, because ht
wanted less bread and more sack. So with tht
Christmas picture books. There is a half
pennyworth of verse to deal of illustration
But we will not join with Prince Henry, an(
say an Sintolerable" deal. Because this is JUS
what we want All the year round we can gel
poetry with pictures; at Christmas time let III
have pictures with poetry.
RsR
One of the first comers, heralding the army
of the seasons artists is The Song of the Brooh
(Cassell & Co.; h. Watts & co., This is Tenny
sons pretty poem. set to graceful and fitting
! illustration. The artist is Wentworth Waus-
worth. The book is pictured in soft blacks and
browns. the full page drawings being especially
good. Some of the smaller sketches have, per-
haps, a little too much frame about them. The
trees. of which there are many. are done with
evident sympathy. The best ones-to our taste
being in the "Haunts of Coot and Hem"
Miss Elizabeth N. Little, who published a
Christmas book last year, has another in sim
liar style this year. OF the WedtherbotO
| CWhite & Allen; H Watts & Coz, is full of
pictures of the sea. Even the poetry has bits
of sea weed tangled in the letters. The selec-
tions are for the most part of a religious turn.
The verses are SO we'll chosen that it is a pity
| that they should be written out in such q
blackboard exercise" style.
After good deal of experience in choosing
books for boys and girls, we are prepared to
commend, even without reading, any publica-
tion which is addressed to a juvenile constitu-
| ency with the imprint of Roberts Bros. on its
title page The young peoples books Of this
| house are uniformly excellent having good
| purpose written in an admirable spirit, with
manly boys for heroes and nice girls for heroines
Here are three volumes from the Roberts
press in this weeks book bundle RiobOo
Carey is by Walter Wentworth. It is the
story of an expedition into the heart of Africa.
Colonel Leslie and two bright boys, Bob and
Ted, aged 15 and a negro servant, Nap, who
had been a slave, and Jack, q dog, are the
members of the company. They have all man
ner of adventures with snakes. and sand
storms. and savages. The boys are captured
by the Waricks and get away again. Finally,
Nap turns out to be Tibboo Carey, the lost
chief of the Copper Mountain. Mr.. Went
worth promises a serial which will deal with the
dangers and horrors of the slave trade"
Their Canoe Trip. by Mary P. W. Smith, Is
dedicated to two boys of Roxbury whose real
adventures are related in the book. The
frontispiece is a map of part of New Hamp-
shire and Massachusetts, showing the course Of
the "Black-E Eyed Susan" The boys have q
irst-rate good time. They meet with snags
and tramps, sleep in queer places, and have
funny experiences which season their dinners
They see whatever is worth seeing, and remem-
Der what interesting things happened at all the
places which have histories. They are capital,
manly young fellows; any mother may be
satisfied to have her boys in such good COM
pany.
LII is by the author of "Miss Toosey's Mis-
sion." That, of itself. promises q good book;
and the promise is generously fulfilled. LilRapd
Ken and Sylvia and the others are like the
boys and girls in some of the best Of Miss
Yonge's books, notably in pillars Of the
House," These young people are just what
young people ought to be-manly and womanly,
earnest and merry, enjoying their lives and
making the most of them. There is enough Of
a love story to add to the charm of the book
without any sentimentality. Everything comes
out delightfully."- in the end.
These three books are well printed and taste
Watts & Co. have them for sale.
So
Deb and the Duchess white q Allen, ]. r.
Weldin & Coy is another childs book. Deb is
a little hy-away Of a girl, whom the maids and
governesses can do nothing with. The Duchess
is the little daughter of a circus performer.
Mike is the young heir to good many broad
English acres. The father Of the Duchess, by
way Of revenge for some old injury, steals
,Ia -.
for rthe Duchess, steals Deb. The three
children are brought together in a wretehed
in London. MIKE has to act in the
circus. At last the Duchess, taking the part
which her father had meant for Deb, gets |
hugged too tightly or somehow hurt by the |
dancing bear, and the story ends tragically. |
But the little stolen children are recovered. |
L. T. Meade is the author.
4.=
Esther Bradford, aged Is, possessor of $40. in |
a strange country, with no friends. comes to |
meet US in the first chapter Of EstheT's Fortune |
(Porter & Coates; j. R. Weldln & Coz. Her |
alone. DR.. Maurice, who has been attending |
her father, introduces her to Miss Janet Lisle, |
a charming lady, who becomes her friend. |
Miss Lisle takes her to her home in England,
where she has flower home" London flower
girls, and does all manner of helpful things for
other people Esther's fine voice is cultivated.
good and not SO good, are discovered.
At last, after various adventures and misad-
Esther's fortune is effectaally and
happily made. Lucy g. Lille has thus added
another to her lengthening list Of good, pleas
ant, uplifting books for girls.
80
A birthday book" of new kind is EOerV
Day Biography (Fo8ler & Wells: J. r. Wei
lin e. OoN TTndar aanh dav of tho vaar ora sat |
the names of several more OF less eminent
people who were born on that day, each with a
brief paragraph of description. The selections
are often rather queer, some of the American
notables, especially, being people not very
extensively known to fame. We open at ran
1om at September 8. Heinrich Christian Schu-
nacher, ian able Danish astronomer John
Humphrey Noyes, founder of the sect called
Perfectionists;' Caroline A. Soule, ian emil
1ent American lecturer writer and journalist"
md Sarah Orne Jewett, "an American
luthor," are the proDer people to think of on
;he third day of the ninth month. We are
concerning Miss Jewett that 'she has
travelled extensively in Europe, Canada and
to periodicals, is author of many
,ooks." This Is fair sample page.
A capital series Of practical papers for boys,
which appearedi in 81. Nicholas, Is now gathered
nto book, under the title Ready for Business
Fowler Wells: ]. r. Weldin Co.)
These papers give Just the right
ort of advice in the difficult |
natter of choosing an occupation. Mercantile
md professional life is written up in interest
ng chapters. The young man who thinks he
would like to be an electrical engineer, or an
rchitect, or a builder, or drummer, or
I