Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-10
New Books for
Our Readers
BY FLORENCE BosARD LAWRENCE

The writer of the book has imbued
his work with a decided poetic spirit,
and the style, while delightfully."- free
from effort, is still picturesque and sure
to interest.
AS a prelude to the stories, the book
contains an introduction in which the
entire scheme of the poem is explained.
Afterward a short description of the
various gods and goddesses, the divine
character of the poem, are given; and
then the humans of the tale find brief
presentation to the student. The sim
lies with which the entire poem is re-
plete also come in for mention from
this Homeric admirer, and he speaks in
this way of the art with which the
poet makes use of them throughout the
Had: "Where the action is to be de-
layed or elaborated, and especially in
the battle pieces, the SMILES are flung
broadcast, shining like stars among the
racing clouds of a stormy sky. Every
corner of nature and every province of
human life is ransacked to furnish il
lustrations of the eternal drama OF bat
tie, murder and sudden DEATH In
moment we are rapt by the magic of
the poet from the steam and squalor OF
slaughter to some busy scene of human
industry or some living picture, grand,
lovely or terrible, drawn from the great
panorama of nature. Nothing is too
great. nothing is too little, to furnish
material for this splendid treasury of
poetry. 1t would be easy TO dlscourse
for pages on this fascinating subject,
hut we must content ourselves with the
above brief hint"
The book is illustrated with splendid
half-tone reproductions of famous
paintings. Some Of the artists whose
work are represented are Claude Lor-
raine, Lord Leighton, Peter Won Cor
nelius, Friedrich Preller, jr., Christian
G. Heyne, Paul Cheyenard, Henry
Howard and Baron H. de Triqueti.
stories from the Had. BY H. l..
Havill. New York: Dodge Publishing
company.
The carved wood toys which the
Swiss folk make for children have only
been placed in the market for little
American boys and girls within the
past few years. The toys, with their
crude and clumsy forms, are delightful
and always find welcome wherever
thev make their appearance. Children
who have played so often with these
little imitation animals and men Will
welcome with double pleasure the story
of Donkey John of the Toy valley
The Toy valley lies in the Tyrol OF
Austria, and in it dwell unique race
speak a strange tongue. This story de-
scribes the life and peculiar industry
of this littIe-known valley. Each chap
ter heading is illustrated with cuts
made from the actual toys made in this
valley. 80
While the story has much to do with
the wood carving and toymaking of the
Swiss people, it describes also many
climatic and other curious conditions OF
the country, A thrilling account of a
snoWslide, in which what appears to be
an entire mountain slides off into the
valley below, is one of the interesting
features of the story. There are some
funny incidents in connection with the
making of toys, too; for these simple
folk make many animals the originals
of which they have never seen. just
think of making hundreds and hun
Greds of little wooden horses and paint
ing them white, with queer black spots'
and never once in your whole life nav
ing seen q white horse, or, Tor tnat
matter. any horse at all. For it is
fact that until within the last few
wears the mountains were impaSSa bic,
and until modern engineering methods
were utilized it was impossible to build
a road through these hills and valleys
which would allow of travel for even
one horse.
Donkey John of the Toy Valley. BY
Margaret Warner Morley Chicago: A.
c. McClurg.
The tales which were included last
year in the "Flaming Sword" by Mrs.
Harrison are reprinted this year in
small books, each volume containing
two of these stories.
The book as originally published was
reviewed in this paper last year, and is
a most delightful collection of stories
for young readers. There are beautiful
mystic pictures in soft, hazy colors,
suggestive of all that is spiritual to the
childish imagination and there are the
clearer black and white illustrations to
emphasize the meaning of each story. =.
These tales, "The Polar STAR and
"The Aurora Borealis," "The Ladder OF
Moonlight and "The Cotton Myth"
"The Mocking Bird" and Sunrise and
Sunset" are all~adaptations of Biblical
stories, and will make splendid material
for the story telling hour. Every moth
er knows that no matter how VIDE her
5inor or bou lxnen her interest in