The New York herald., 1922-10-15

mothers voice as she turns magic pages,
or so grown up that the realities of life
are tumbling in on them with every pass
ing hour-all these boys and girls are pro-
vided for with a sumptuous generosity.
Several of the great classics of the world
have gradually been pre-empted by the
young. Books like lSwifts "Gulliver's
Travels" or Scott's "Ivanhoe,". the Fables
of Esop Robinson Crusoe" and many
more. written years ago for the adults Of
a social order that gave it's children a horn
book by which to learn to spell, and moth
ing more, these stories are now children's
stories. And every coming season sees new
and handsome editions appear. with
perb pictures and adorable covers. Indeed,
so fine are the covers of the beautiful edi-
tions for children, whether of old books
or new ones, that one could easily fill an
entire article with enthusiastic description
of covers alone Their shapes and sizes,
the drawings that decorate them. the col
ors with which they glow, the playful
fancy that sets it's allure upon them, MAX
ing You long to open them forthwith and
plunge into the delights they promise, and
at the same time holding you in lingering
admiration of their sheer charm, covers
like these deserve more than the word
or two that is all there is space to give
to them. For so many are the books.
coming fresh from the presses in hundreds
upon hundreds. that not even the most
two of comment.
classes, to help the distracted seeker after
just the right thing for his or her partic-
ular Christmas child to find that special
book or books without too much exertion.
There are, for instance, the host of tiny
books for little bits of boys and girls, books
that tell quaint animal stories which
are filed with jolly jngles or that carry
on from one volume to another gay adven-
lures of baby heroes and heroines. These
little books are brightly colored, and are
usually quite as full of pictures of text.
They are meant to read aloud, to read over
and over, as children love to have a book
read, the while at each page the eager let
me see' can be rewarded by the find of a
new illustration. These little books are
beautifully made and are true works of
art. calculated to touch child's imagina-
ton and rouse its sense of beauty. Many
of them tell stories that contain facts
about nature in the woods and fields. like
the countless Burgess books, at the same
time that they amuse and interest.
Then there is another great group, those
books that run in series and which relate
to school and college, stories of sum-
mer camps or Of special athletic activities.
One young hero or heroine will be followed
as the years pass, beginning as a little
thing of six or eight and going on to ma
turity. These books appear to be great
favorites They tell of people and of sit
uations with which their child or ado
lescent readers are familiar, and they tell
these things we'll Usually there are sew
eral illustrations to each of these volumes,
and the formal is as good as with any
adult novel. These books are to a large
extent made to order and are not the chill
dren of inspiration, but they take the place
of the moral tales of an older genre, hold
ing up clean and vigorous ideals and pic
turing the world into which the schools
and colleges lead in a way that, if circum-
scribed, is none the less faithful to fact.
A number of them are excellently written.
and are even enlivened with a sense of
humor-the real thing, not mere matter
of funny situations.
Between these two groups comes one
perhaps larger than either, of the fairy
and folk tales gathered from the wide