The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-15
From Fays and Elves
to Painless Geography
By CONSTANCE MURRAY GREENE

teal book about animals and painless
geography come TO us from the food of
books for the very young. The first and
most impressive of the fairy books is Eng
lish Fairy Tales retold by the novelist
Flora Annie Steele, large and thoroughly
delightful collection, beautifully bound
and illustrated in color and black and
white by Arthur Rackham in manner
which beggars description.
Dutch FGiry Tales are told by William
Elliot Griffis, the author Of Brare Little
Holland, long resident in Holland and one
intimately acquainted with its legends and
folklore. He reveals the origin of many
of the old Dutch names, discusses the use
of the lion in Dutch heraldry, explains
many queer customs and superstitions, all
in the most charming way as if it were
fun and not at all as if he we're being in
structive. The story of The Curly Tailed
Lion is especially winning and Why the
StOrks Lope Holland.
Frances Jenkins Olcott has gathered in
The Book Of Elres and FAIRIES stories
from all lands, a sprinkling of her own,
some by other authorities and large num-
Der of poems about fairies by Shakespeare,
Ben Jonson, Michael Drayton, William
Allingham and many of the old ballads,
making her book more complete as piece
of fairy literature than anything We have
had.
Oh! Where do the fairies hide their heads
When snow lies on the hills
Miss Olcott quotes from Thomas Haynes
Bayly. We all know that winter is no
time TO see the fairies, but ii is the best
time of all TO read about them, and the
long winter evenings will be far too short
for children who have this fund of infor-
nation with Milo Winters illustrations TO
make the joy more complete.
EcCrychiLFs Mother Goose is Carolyn
Weiss arrangement Of the old standbys,
prefaced by few facts about Mother
Goose and illustrated with photographs
Of dolls dressed up to represent the
various characters, by Edith K. Wilson.
1t is intended that children will derive
further amusement by dressing their own
dolls in imitation, but as a matter of fact
the effect is too wooden and monotOnous
TO be attractive.
With authorities on Mother Goose so
numerous and varying, it is inevitable that
we older readers should find much to dis
please us in any new edition of the old
rhymes, but it does seem that there have
been more changes made than necessary.
Take for instance the ease of The Old Man
in Leather. Miss Wells has the rhyme,
One misty moisty porning
When cloudy was the weather,
There | met an old man
Clothed all in leather;
Clothed all in leather,
With cap under his chin
How do you do, and how do you do,
And how-do-yOu-do again;
while from earliest childhood we have
heard it, and much more elegantly TO our
way of thinking,
One misty mostly morning
When cloudy was the weather,
/ CHANGED to meet an old man
Clothed all in leather
He began to compliment and l began to
grin,
With hOwolo-you-do and how-do- you-do
And how-do-you-do again.
And how infinitely superior is the Ortho-
dox version,
To market, to market, to buy fat pig;
Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.
to Miss Weiss unexciting and badly
rhymed,
To market, to market, to buv plum cake;
Home again, home again, meier one
baked.
1t is hard to imagine dangling delighted
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