New-York tribune., 1919-11-13
Changing Fashions Sho'Un
In Books for Children
Influence of Feminism Is Apparent in Girls Pub
lcations; Boys Books Acquire New Spirit
Result of Ideas Growing Out of the War
BY Rebecca Drucker

and reminded of what was expected Of
her. The girls books of only dozen
years ago were appalling things. They
we're sedentary and dull and unhealthi-
~ self-consci They intensified the
personal standards OF judgment. Bue
the Girl Scout and the Campfire move
ments have given a social cast TO girls
readings. They have brought the code
Of the group into girls reading for the
first time They have brought to girls
books the healthy objective point %
view and the scorn for priggishness
which they never had before. Notwith-
standing which, Louisa May Alcott .
more popular now than she was eVen
in her lifetime. Her capacity for Civ
ing q dramatic presentation to homs
life catches the imagination of girs
everywhere. She is, liorarg records
show, just as popular with girls % for
eign birth as she is with American
One Of the extraordinary growtns N
juvenile literature has been the devci-
opment since "The Jungle Book %
animal stories for small children.
There Is a good reason for their pop
ularity. 1t lies in the interest Of small
children in nature and the difficulty %
teaching it in any otner way rev o'
the nature writer's knew how 20 pre-
sent nature IN cHllUTtI, Iiii4TtN
Burgess, whose series of bedtime an
NAL stories have had q very Fi8e
popularity, has had the knowledge and
the Imagination to make anim2l hfe
absorbing to small children. lie go.
his idea from Beatr.x Potter, a. lag
lishwoman, who wrote stories ard
made pictures illustrating "The Tale
of Peter Rabbit" In these, as r. the
best juvenile stories of animal life the
facts of nature are never taken ii5-
critics with.
This is perhaps not the grade ot
nature-writing we might have for snail
thought fit to follow the example of tfe
Swedish government, which con g.
stoned Selma Lagerlov 10 gather ar
the stories of the woods and field. -
the birds and animals and insects -
her country into book for children.
1t is called "The Wonderful Adveutlrcs
of Nils" and is. of course, wholly ara
intimately concerned with tho life %
Sweden. No other country has evar
commissioned writer of res literary
distinction and Imagination to a
similar task
Perhaps a word should be said o. the
modern treatment of the folk lore "a Q.
There has somehow grown up the I'M
preston that child is a fragile and
sensitive thing. upon whom ro rlfa
or robust idea may blow. Il he's I %
the issuing of compilations of fairy
tales which are emascu.ated of al ,lo-
lence and incidentally - all vividrc-.
] quote from a book advertisement of
such a series: They are rec FROM
the savagery. distressing details ard
excessive pathos which mar manv ~
the tales in the form that they have
come down to us from a barbaric rasi.
But there has been no sacrifice o. ths
simplicity and humor and swcetress I
that give them perennial charm" Here
is didacticism agar, only tins fms
from the sentimentalst What stupid
ity to believe that nothing should be-
brought before a child but what )
happy and beautiful, We do not v,t
all agree as 10 what is happy AZ [
beautiful. Il cannot make the child
happy TO have all his emotions sfori o.
lied. What is to happen to the child l
Imagination in the mean time? FriVht
and anger and revulsion and indixna-
tlon are human emotions not easily
stifled. After all. what preparation
has the child for manhood or woman
hood whose imagination and emotions
nave never been stretched