Norwich bulletin., 1913-06-27
(By Lucy B. Sayles.l

(By Lucy B. Sayles.l It is an interesting study to note the decided change of style and the ad- vance made in childrens' books during the last century.
 What first strikes the casual ob- server is the old books, is the absence of color: possibly the cost of colore engraving prohibited g. too lavish uss of pigments But why. ye shades Of our grahdsires and danes, why this painful regard for les convenances ?'' Honest fun, and happy, cheerful look ing boys and girls seem to be unpopn- lar A normal child one seldom sees they look as if their little souls were encased in plaster casts, even the
 very rogues look prim. Naturally the
 German Marehen began to give lift
 over this stilted style, and then. the
 childrens friend, Charles Dickens, op-
 ened to them whole field of wonder full imaginings.
 Mir Theodore Watts Dunton says
 that the child was neglected, even by the art of literature. Large numbers
 of publications were printed for them
 but nearly all hid bitter powder to T very small proportion of sweets. In those days, children, to quote Mark Twain, were regarded as if every one being born with an equal amount of original sin, the pressure on the square inch must needs be greater Tn a baby.
 Poor little folk. how very badly the world of penny liners treated you, in the days of long ago. Every story had some indigestible moral truths in it, that made the most beautiful TO- nance only a sugar coated pill. after all.
 It would be quite out of place hers, to suggest any theory to account for the more recent homage paid to child hood. I am sure many children of healthfu1 normal minds were made unnaturalIy morbid by being forced would be- saints,
 Stories of Long Ago.
 AS we look into the stories of long ago, the books reveal almost nothing intended for a child's comprehension, the greater part of their ballads is meant for groWnupSl
 Poor little e-starched and be-frill- ed humanity of a century ago! Even Jack and Jill well conducted and sure footed at that period
 Jack and Gill, went up the hill
 Of love and honor talking. Both dressed so neat.
 While nose gays sweet
 They plucked. as they were walk
 ing"
 We do not envy them. their nose gays sweet, we confess we like our own riotous lack and Jill much bet ter. It is doubtful. if even the earli- est editions, now the exclusive prop erty of the nursery. were really pub lished for little ones These chap illustrated with droll little wood-cuts. The same cut was used again and again to express the most different ideas.
 No creature played so many parts as 8 bird, which after being named an eagle, a, cuckoo and a kite, is fin ally called Noah's Dove"
 PeddIers, or Chapmen.
 Inside these books we find interpre- tations of dreams. histories, stories of valor songs, ballads, tracts etc. They were sold about the country by ped dlers or chap men. Steele says, ii you want to sell here is your chap. so We find it meant formerly both buy or and seller. The chapman (origin- ally cheapman or cheap -sack) carried his articles in pack, hanging from his neck. Catalogs of them exist dated as far back as 1598; so we may well conclude the chap has had his day, 1 and the book tool Its chief qualities were it's artlessness and absolute ugli- 1 ness. The result is most interesting, l however, because of its age and rarity. i Theaping or chipping meant market 1 place; it still is used locally i'll such l names as Chippendale. The once com 1 mon expression for selling and ex- l changing was chapping. As for the 1 ehapman himself. you must know. he | was a great man. We may still see him at times after the older fashion, 1 travelling about the country in a sort l If rumble. This vehicular mode of | transit set him far above the rank 1 If ordinary foot pads. He was a sort i L. s--- n ion his arrival caused. The village | green was instantly instinct with life l From every possible nook and cranny ] ;urged forth small army of all ages. | 1oarded pennies were drawn forth | rom cherished hiding places, and | 1intry maternal pockets were assaiied | with comparative success. He had so | many things to tempt their juvenile 1 ancy-and what man was Jack him. self. he had a joke for everyone.
 Short Lived Books Today.
 The childrens' books of to-day are short-lived, and the nursery | lrtist thumbs them to death; happy | ate I am sure. for all books. To see | lis volumes worn out by too eager Totaries, what more could an artist | ,r author wish? Children are often | ihrewd judges, and can detect the ! alse from the true in morals as in art. l Who could be cheerful inside an "In- | itructive History of Industry and | Sloth,' or Tea Table Dialogs, between Miss Thoughtful. Miss Sterling etc. The dreary titles must. of necessity, lave made the text and illustrations lull.
 For many years before the Sic- erian period. folk lore was left to the peasants.
 We grant it is difficult for us to orm any precise estimate of what is to children, we should be obliged to recover some of their Lppetite, before we could detect the | choolmaster beneath every kind of l heeps' clothing, or feel like them what complete kill-joy he must be ' 0 their tastes. How odious it must be O feel that whatever path of enjoy nent a child enters. an ambuscade of is lurking. ready to rush i town upon him. Nothing is more sur rising in our journeys through small libraries, than to see the fiin1sy ma erials of which many of these books re composed. Children are such ke4.l asuists, that they know at once what 5 absurd or unnatural, and could we ee into their hearts we would find hey had a secret contempt for the edantic. unreal creatures figuring III heir stories. We look fondly back to they ardently forward to 1aturity: we magnify the happiness hat is past. they, that alone which Is Q come. Parents and teachers usually nd the much ado- about nothing sys- am quite super1uous and those in- enious teachers who climb over the ouse to open the door are we believe, faning ir estimation. Children do not eally care for the mental bits dropped own to them from the tree of know1- dge, but would much rather stretch
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