Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-10

told first to her own children, as they
gathered about her knee, and finding
this little circle as delighted with the
results of the fanciful pictures, she
finally incorporated them in a book,
Biblical Stories Retold for the Chill
dren. BY Edith Ogden Harrison. Chi
cago: A. C. McClurg..
Edwin J. Houston, who knows person
ally $4,000 boys, and is known as the
boys friend, has added another book to
his delightful Pacific series. The latest
one to come from the press is cOntinu-
alton of the stories about the two men
and three boys whose acquaintance we
made first in the derelict brig atloat in
the Pacific.
Many adventures have come in the
way of these travellers since their first
introduction to us, and in this third
volume the boys are stolen by some
native hunters and carried away from
the other members of the party.
1t is interesting to note here how the
author has made these boys sing their
glee club songs to delight the savage
minds of the warriors, and how event
ually these untutored tribesmen make
valiant attempts to unite with the sing
ing of the boys. Boating songs and
others which initiate some sound or
TDYInm WHICH Is ldiiillldI plShSC LIZ
savage listeners, and win the good will
of the chief, who assures the boys with
mods and grimaces that they need have
no fear of i'll treatment.
The book contains much information
of value concerning the inha abitants OF
the Polynesian group of islands, ana
the vegetable life and geological forma-
ton of the islands are discussed in
a manner as interesting to the reader
as though he were making the eXplora-
tions and examinations at first hand,
instead of through the delightful per
sonality of this experienced traveller
and student, who combines with these
qualities the still more valuable one or
story telling. a.
The Pacific Series, vol. III. Captivity
in the Pacific. BY Edwin ]. Houston.
Philadelphia: The Griffith & Rowland
Press.
Dramatic work for children is now so
generally recognized as a valuable por-
tion of their training that all books
bearing upon the subject are eagerly
sought. Something new and apparent
ly of great value is the "Childrens
Classics in Dramatic Form" by Au-
gusta Stevenson.
The stories given are for the most
part adaptations of favorite tales from
the folk lore-Anderson, Grimm, Aesop
and the ARABIAN Nights" have been
freely drawn upon.
The author in her foreword introduces
her book better than L can when she
saws: "Children are dramatic by ma
ture. They are for the time the king,
the fairies and the heroes they picture
in their imaginations. They are these
characters with such abandon and with
such pleasure that the onlooker must
believe that nature intended that they
should give play to this dramatic in
stinct, not so much formally with all
the trappings of the man-made stage,
but spontaneously and naturally, as
they can talk and read"
The old fable of the miller his son
and the donkey is the first play which
is given. and offers sufficient dramatic
possibility to make the children keenly
alive to all the joys of acting. The
ugly Duckling," "The Girl Who Trod
on the / Loaf," "The Cat and the Mouse. !"
"What the Goodman Does Is Right,
and many other delightful little plays