Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-25
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BookIorer.

| awarded by the American LiuI q. y
| Association on Thursday to WIN
James for his Smoky the Cowhorse..
This medal, the gift Of Frederic Z;
| Weekly. is awarded annually for the
most distinguished contribution to
the literature for young people OF the
previous year. This is the sixth
award of the medal. The previous
awards have been as follows: For
| 1921, to Hendrix w. Van Loon for
| THE Story of Mankind; for 1922, to
Hugh Lofting for 1.-The Story OF
Doctor Doolittle"; for 1928. to Charles
b. Halves for 1.-THE Dark Frigate'
for 1924. to Charles j. Finger for
Tales From Silver Lands; for 1870,
to Arthur B. Chrisman for "Shen OF
the Sea-" The American Library AS
ISOLATION has regularly delegated to
the children's librarians section OF
the association the responsibility for
the selection of the book for the
award. This year the prize was an
| nounced at Toronto, where the
American Library Association con-
ference has been in session, by Miss
| Louise =. Latimer, director OF chill
dren's work in the Washington Pub
| lie Library. who Is this year chair
man Of the children's librarians Sec
| ton.
| "Smoky the Cowhorse," the book
| of 1926 to which the John NeWbery
| medal has been awarded, is a rafting
good story, one which will delight
boys of all ages. In these days when
the automobile has all but supplanted
the horse, it is good to have such a
| thrilling story of an almost human
| horse. The story covers Smoky's life
as colt on the range, his flights with
| other horses, his experiences with
| wolves and other wild animals, his
| breaking in by Clint, the bronc
| twister, under whom he becomes q
one-man horse. AS such he Is highly
trained and for several years is very
useful as q cattle horse. Even when
| he was but partly broken, he saved
| Clint's life, bringing him home safely
after a bad SPILL Next he Is among
| the missing. Then he becomes a man
| killing horse, is renamed the Couger,
and as a part of a rodeo is the subject
| of high stakes for those who will risk
| riding him. After several years of
that life he becomes so subdued as to
| be sold away to a livery stable, where
he becomes a "many-men horse" Is
foundered and nearly ruined. The
Clint and his rehabilitation.
4 X n n
1nasmuch as woman librarians have
| sometimes been criticized because of
their supposed preference for books
that combine unimpeachable conduct
and good English, it is interesting to
note that in this case they have
chosen book whose characters, both
| horses and men, are almost primitive,
and one that is written throughout in
the ungrammatical language of the
| cowboy. Perhaps it was considered
that the lingo is so remote from the
| conventional as to be almost a foreign
| language, that it would be recognized
| as such and so have no detrimental
| influence on young readers. The
| Booklover is glad that the committee
was not deferred from awarding the
prize to this fine book.
X X X X
DR.. Harry Emerson Fosdick makes
a plea for unification of religion in
his book, Adventurous Religion"
He believes that most sectarian differ
ences could be reasoned or tactfully
smoothed away, with great benefit to
church organization In a liberal re-
| ligion, unity could be found. Creeds,
he believes, are not a necessary part
Of the religion Of Jesus. Other sub
jects discussed in DIR. Fosdick's book
are the dangers of modernism, the in
spiration of the Bible, prayer and the
relation of natural laws and the uni
versal will.
With knowledge Of human
| nature in it's self-deceptions and sub
| terfuges which has helped to make
her our foremost writer of psychologist
cal fiction, Edith Wharton, in her
novel, Twilight Sleep" analyses a
certain type of person not uncommon
today, but frequently unrecognized--
the type which might be called the
summer of pain. "She knew that
nothing frightened and disorganized
Pauline as much as direct contact
with physical or moral suffering -
especially physical. Her whole life Gf
one chose to look at it from certain
angle) had been long, uninterrupted
struggle against the encroachment or
every form Of pain. The first step,
always, was to conjure 1t, bride 1t
| away. by every possible expenditure
except Of ones self. Cheques, sur
geons, nurses, private rooms in hos
pitfalls, X-rays, radium. whatever was
| most costly and up-to-date in the
dreadful art of healing-that was her
first and strongest line of protection;
| behind it came such lesser works as
rest cures, change of air, q seaside
holiday, a whole new set of teeth,
pink silk bedspreads, lace cushions,
stacks of picture papers and not
| house grapes and long-stemmed roses
from Cedarledge. Behind these again
were the final, the verbal defenses,
made Of such phrases as: If l Thought
could do the least good'-1f didn't
feel it might simply upset her-Some
doctors still consider 1t contagious
with the inevitable summing up: The
fewer people she sees the better--
Mona knew that this attitude was not
caused by lack Of physical courage.
Had Pauline been a pioneers wife,
and seen her family stricken down by
disease in the wilderness, she would
have nursed them fearlessly; but all
her life she had been used to buying
| off suffering with money. or denying
| ito existence with words, and her
moral muscles had become SO afro
nhied that only some great shock
would restore their natural strength"
X X X X
clara r.. I.aughlin, author of the
| practical books Of travel, 80 You're
Doing to England" $50 You're Going
tn Parisr' and 80 You're Going to
Italvr'. has drawn up 20 rules for
foreign travel which she observes her
self and recommends to others. Some
Of the best ones are: "Do unto the
other fellow in his country as you
would like to have him do unto you
in YOURS" go abroad to learn how
things are done outside America, not
to declaim to others how much better
everything is done at home" Don't
think that the louder you talk the
more apt you are to be understood
and appreciated" Remember, when
travelling abroad, that you are unof-
ficially representing your country and
that by your actions it is being
nsge Value Of traT nlepa and certainty