Evening star., 1928-11-18
BY IDA GILBERT MYERS.

THROUGHOUT the week ending
yesterday the book shops and
stores were lending a hand to
1 the young folk by way of book
displays devoted wholly to the
profit and pleasure of this part of the
tocal citizenry. Some of the shops set
UP book stalls so gay in manner and
look as to recall the ancient town and
roadside fairs in which the modern
mart had its rise. One of these, at
least, had invited authors to meet the
children upon a certain afternoon.
And, indeed, everything that interest
and skill could devise was made use Of
to further the early habit of good
books. Thinking of the lure of the
open for children, asked the smiling
girl in charge Of stall, And do the
boys and girls actually come to seq
what you have done for them?" I'm
deed they do-particularly the boys.
They come and stay, looking at the
books and often settling down to q bit
Of reading right here In the midst OF
what is going on" That is pretty fine,
don't you thinkP And it is to be re-
membered that plans of identical pur-
pose were going on last week In all the
cities and towns Of the country.
A fact to notice in this book week
was that in many cases the highest
posts of honor were given to the Old
books--the ones which the grandfathers
and grandmothers of today and yester-
day, when they. too, were little, held In
deep delight Mother Goose-a quite re-
splendent Mother GooSe-was clearly
the queen Of the juveniles in this book
fete. Near her, fairy tale and folk lore
faced each other In smiling rivalry,
confident both, of a safe place in the
hearts of the children. And further
along toward the grown-up years, still
the old books-thoSe that have dared
time so buoyantly and triumphantly-
were in a good majority holding the
right of way. There Is neither time
nor space to give to them all, but let
US look at just . few.
ARABIAN NIGHTS. Edited by Hide
garde Hawthorne. illustrated oy
Virginia Frances Sterrett: Pn1aoel-
phia: The Penn Publishing Co.
VOU know them all--Aladdin, Haroun
l. AL Raschid, All Baba, Sindbad and
a host Of others But rarely have they
been so sumptuously housed as tney
are in this fine volume. Editor, NUS
traitor and bookmaker entered INTO
partnership of understanding, SYM
production of the book.
Interesting to remember that these
stories are older than books, older tnan
print. A thousand years ago and more,
under star-lit desert skies, they were
half-spoken, half-chanted, from tribe
to tribe, from generation to generation,
till finally caught by the new art OF
printing, they became mirror renect-
ing, without flaw. the strange beliefs
and fancies of an ancient people. In
teresting, too, to recall that the lovely
Scheherazade, of the thousand and one
stories, was the inventor Of the modern
serial, which Is today the hfesaVer OF
many a current publication.
4 X y X
THE ADVENTURES OF DON QU1x-
OTE. BY Miguel de Cervantes. II
lustrated by Herman 1. Bacharach.
Boston: Houghton Mif1in Co.
THE story of mankind is the story of
l. warfare. Yet, ever has there been
a lone one. or a lone few, here and
there who refused to wage battle save
In the cause of the weak, the en-
dangered, the oppressed. A tiny seed,
this. in the midst of general hatred and
combat. But from 1t there grew in the
course of time the cult of chivalry. And
from it there Sprang, also, great nt-
erature wherein art embodied the quail
tiles of love, protection, Righteousness
as brave men--say, like the knights of
the Round Table, or say, again, like
the gentleman Of La Mancha, the be-
loved Don Quixote. Out of the human
attributes of kindness, feeling for JUS
tice, an out-reaching toward the un-
happy, the genius of Cervantes created
the enduring figure Of Don QuiXote.
And here In book Of proper distinction
you are given the chance OF going out
with this man for the purpose OF set
ting a crooked world straight. On the
back of Rosinante, Sancho Panza to
the left and you to the right, the great
adventure begins. All up and down the
hills and valleys of Spain you go, meet
ing men of every pattern, coming upon
many a. sorry thing to be made glad,
upon many a down -trodden thing to be
lifted up. All these to-ingS and fro
ings, however, serve the great purpose
of making you acquainted with the man
mounted upon Rosinante and bent to
the salvation of the world. Genial,
lovable, amusing, now and then a shade
ridiculous, Don Quixote grows and
grows in your affections till, the mis-
sion ended, you find yourself rich in
the friendship of one of the worlds
great creations. A book to read time
and time again. And here is special
chance to have it in an excellent
abridgement, one that, while 1t some
what Shortens the text, never does sac
riflce any part of the original savor OF
the whole.
DRUMS. BY James Boyd. Pictures by
N. G. Wyeth. New York: Charles
ScribnerS Sons.
JAMES BOYD'S Drums" one of the
few really fine novels Of the imme-
diate past. Is, by way of this volume,
turned over definitely to the use of
younger readers. Uncommonly attrac-
tive in general makeup, Strikingly
beautiful in its color and pen pictures,
the book, both by this outer gesture
and by It's substance as WELL is calcu-
lated to stand high in the favor OF
those for whom it has been so pre-
pared. The theme, as you recall, Is
that of colonial days in the South,
with revolution not far away. 1t is
later the story of that revolution in its
effect upon this part of the country,
its effect upon certain characters who
here stand in a broadly representative
capacity as the chief figures In the
romance itself The genius of taking
pains belongs clearly to the art of this
writer For little by little, bit by bit,
the locality in its people and their in
tereSts is built into blend of conviric-
ing reality. The book Is a termination
of that time and place, rather than
record of its events and interests. Bet
ter than history, very much better than
those retold tales that have lost their