The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-05

OF u cleV0r 'nOV0l lTOn D0nnu til0 bCcnos'
For those who do not mind this. and who
will close their eycs when the machinery
IL too apparent, the book may read a.
pleasantly a. love story by -The Duchess
There was chance for good story, how
ever, which the author has missed.
Children's Books.
In the days when Planous was CONSUL
PEOPLE my have Numbered a. to what
books wero suited to youth-4Oliver Twist
was called child's book tbon-but at least
boy or girl who wanted to read cano In
contact with the books themselves, and not
with predigested extracts OF what their
minds should or could aesirnilate. Twelve
year-olds did not fear to tackle Robinson
Crusoe" or .Ivanhoe' or sPickwick" or
even Shakespeare's plays. and what they
could not or should not understand glidod
harmlessly Of their innocence. They got
something that lasted Of the books and Of
the authors and were ready to return to
them when they grew older. Then came
tho days Of reverence for tho child and Of
classics In ono syllable versions. taking
away the keenness Of tho young resdsr's
appetite and the power TO tackle solid
literary food. Why Shakespeare should DO
diluted for children We cannot understand.
II child has not sufficient Imagination TO
enjoy the plays It had bettsr wait TIL It
grows up. II parents insist on The stories
being known before the plays arc read
they can turn to another English classic,
Charles and Mary Lambs tales from
Shakespeare However. The task has been
performed again by Alice Spencer Hon.
man 10 Stories from shakespeare's Plays
for Children published IN pretty little
square volumes, with all the typographical
attraotiveness that J. M. Don't 4 Co. give
to their books E. P. Dutton d co.,. There
ia one play to q volume. and to each
the biographical introduction Il prefxed.
The six volumes before III include the
Tempest" As You Like Il. "A Midsum-
mer Nights Dream "The Merchant OF
Venice king Richard the Second and
king Henry the Fifth Tho author
makes the capital mistake Of talking down
to her readers. The reverence due to
youth makes her veil the facts effectively
in her biography, for instance, regarding
Shakespeare's married life, and the tone
Is that Of n fairy tale. The two historical
plays are filed out with facts that help to
make the history Ineligible, but which are
not Shakespeare, and there Is a needful
reticence about parts OF the other plays.
The authors intentions are good. she tells
the story directly and quotes frequently.
We cannot but hope, nevertheless, that
children will first learn to know their
Shakespeare directly from the plays.
From l.. C. Page 4 Co., Boston. come
six little volumes Of varying character.
providing youth with up to date literature.
Two, by Mr.. Charles G. d. Roberts, treat
natural history frcm the modern senti-
mental point Of view. providing animals
with human feelings. In THE Little People
OF the Sycamore the vicissitueiee Of
raccoon family are described: In THE Re-
turn to the Trail the unhappy fate OF a
civilized bear. Our Little French Cousin,
by Blanche McManus. has more individu-
atty and story than most OF the books in
the series OF which it forms part, while
Our Little Korean Cousin by H. Lee NJ.
Pike places information first. The hopes
built on some amusing people, old and
young, in How Christmas Came to the
Mulvaneys.' by Frances Margaret Fox,
dies out with plot OF stereotyped mawk-
ish sentimentality. The bold imagination
that tries to paint the childhood OF Boston's
early settlers in their old home in the Eng
lish Boston may cause the reader to forgive
the highflown language Of the people and
the antiquarian statements In "A Little
Puritan Cavalier" by Edith Robinson.
There is no excuse, however, for slandering
Oliver Cromwell, and less for introducing
the college yell into the seventeenth GEN.
tvry Ralph Irbyl He's-all right!
Ralph-'rahI Ralph-'nhl Ralph-'rahl
Bcs,on!" We don't believe Lincolnshire
would stand for that even nowadays.
Though the story is by no means SO little
known as the author assumes, 1t was GER
.ainy worth while for Mr.. Gordon Hall
Gerould to retell the legend Of Sir Guy
of Warwick" Grand, McNally d Coz.
The book makes handsome appearance.
The author tells his story directly in a
stately prose reminiscent Of the old
romances. but with no effort at archaism.
The vocabulary is necessarily poetic. Ex-
cellent though it is, We should hardly call
it, however, "the good rich English OF to-
day"
Robbery, incendiarism, sleuthing. be-
sides sensational adventures on the water,
provide, excitement in Mr.. Ruei P. Smiths
.The Rival Campers" IL. C. Page 4 Coz.
Whether they are the proper food for
young boys minds we cannot say. Stand
ards Of what is fitting In literature may
have changed for young as well as for
old Of late years. The complicated geog-
raphy OF the island and it's adjacent
waters, on which much OF the story turns,
deserves map. which would be clearer
than the authors verbal explanations.
We should not care to send girl to the
boarding school described by Ursula
Tannenforst In @The Thistles Of Mount
Cedar" (The John G. Winston Company,
1t Is difficult to decide
whether the young persons or their teachers
are the more foolish. Tho story is told
Other Books.
Mr.. Eustace a. Mills is turning out books