New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-29
Good Books for Boys
Sports, Sentiment, Patriotism
and Adventure

THE BOYS BOOK or SPORTS Edited by Grant
land Rice. With many illustrations from photo
graphs and drawings. $40. ~. Iiy. i2s. Tbs
Century Company.
TIE YOUTH PLuPY, BY Henry A shute. With
Illustrations by Reginald Birch. limo, pp 25S.
The Houshton Mihin Company
WINNING HIS ARMY BLUE. BY Norman Brain
srd. Illustrated by John Cos. l2no, pp BIS.
The LOthrop. Lac 4 Shepard Company
THE ALAG. b. Homer Greene illustrated l2mo.
pp. ais George W. Jacobs & Co.
RULERS on THE LAKES. By Joseph A. AT
shsler. Illustrated by Charles l.. Wrenn l2Ino.
~. 1888. ID. Appleton & 60.
BOY HOLIDAYS IN THE LOUISIANA wILDs.
By Andrews Wilkinson. With illustrations by
Harold James Cue sVo, ~ 25s. latte, Brown
Go.
The appeal of honest, healthful sports
is, or at any rate should be, universal
to the boyhood Of the world. 1t is true
that the tastes and inclinations and
abilities of boys differ greatly; but SO
do the characters and requirements OF
the sports; 80 that it is difficult to
imagine any normal boy for whom
there Is net some suitable sport and
to whom some sport will not appeal.
In this handsome and cOmpendlous
volume, edited by The Tribune's past
master of sports, Grantland Rice, all
the chief pastimes and exercises are
set forth in instructive and entertain
ing fashion by expert authorities, such
as Christy Mathewson on baseball, j.
Parmly Paret on lawn tennis and
Francis Ouimet on golf, and the range
is from the "old swimmin' hole" to
aviation. 1t is a good book for every
boy who is real boy.
Plupy may have wished to be con
sidered a young man. So newborn
baby is young man, or young woman
very young. We prefer to consider
him boy, and genuine boy he was,
with all Of real boys sentiment and
constituencies and ambition. lie was
delightful in his ircipient love affairs,
and quite glorious in his Homeric fist
fight. We have placed the volume
among books for boys, and there il
belongs; but it will be equally fas-
cinating reading for boys Of sixteen
or seventeen and for boys of sixty or
seventy; and if girls of the same age
do not find it entertaining we have
missed our reckoning.
Honor is the subject of my story"
Mr.. Brainerd might well have said at
the beginning of his book. For it is
the tale of lad at school, where all
| the varied passions of boyhood have
their play, and where he is placed in
many trying predicaments, but where
tne principle of manly honor is held
supreme. As result, he wins the
technical honor grade, which places
him on the way to an army commits
sion. II is a well told, often exciting
and always inspiring story.
In "The Flag" the theme of the
classic "Man Without Country" is
dealt with of course in very diff
ferent way, but effectively and with
admirable spirit. The hero of the tale
as schoolboy unthinkingly desecrates
the American flag and is persecuted
into a state of mind in which he
defantly refuses to apologize; but in
the end he and his chief schoolboy
enemy carry the flag to the French
battle front and give their blood for
its principles in the great war. The
book contains no buster nor fustian,
but is imbued throughout with a fine
spirit Of patriotism
"The Rulers of the Lakes" is the
third of Mr.. Altsheler's tales of the
French and Indian War, and it deals
in spirited and sufficiently veracious
manner with the bloody campaigns
around Lake George and Lake Cham
plain. 1t is fiction, but it probably
gives a more true impression of the
times and doings which it portrays
than do many of the history books.
The boys who spent their holidays
in the watery wildernesses of Loulsi-
ana had many hair-raising adventures,
and they also listened to many beast
lore tales and to some instructive in
formal lectures about the wild Great
ures of the swamps and forests all
of which go to make up particularly
interesting book.