Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-07

bringing up the boy in the way he should CO."
Summed in method and effect here Is o pas
S1onate arraignment of mothers who, under q
host Of prepossessions and illusions, devitalize
certain types and strains of boyhood to COM
plete helplessness before the tumult OF activity
that is the pattern of modern life just outside
the home.
Such sketchy outline gives you the main
course Of this matter. To receive the impact
Of its fire and fury you will need to read for
yourself The writer is very much In earnest.
He knows what he is trying to do He knows
pretty well how to do it. as you will agree when
the reading Is over. The book is really the
saga of mothers nice little boy" It is the
epic OF Sapping the youngsters for the sake of
making host of dear little fellows" Pretty
much like me, even though was q grl-teli-
cate you know, sensitive!"
You viii read the story. It is well worth
reading. You may call it brilliant as it is.
Scathing as it so indubitably is. Indeed, some
Of the brusque and homely proceedings you may
call humorous. There is no humor here. And
while you are complacently saying these things,
more than likely there is lolling against your
knee slip of boy. thin and pale. ga lovely
child" cAnd then, in q moment of moral
Strengthening you say, 81 shall certainly see
that that Mrs. Smith over across has this book,
for IL ever a mother was" Who was it said
to nin "Its a fine, STRAIGHTFORWARD, honest
book Now that you've found your wings. you'll
be able to fly somewhere? I've forgotten
but never mind. Its true.
WHILE GONDOLAS PASS. By Helen Mackey
New York: D. Appleton & Co.
VENICE. Not a travel book. Better than
that. Since here is the beautiful city
growing by way of che story Of a group Of
Venetian children. place lived in rather than
one passed through Za-Bi little girl about
years old, mothering her brothers and sisters
if she were woman-grown It is along the
hard lines Of Za-BfS life that we come to
know Venice from the bottom up instead Of
Skimming OF the high points of its glamour
from some uplifted and remote spot. Time
moves here as elsewhere, and the little girl gets
older and works harder for the young ones
around her. Being Of the breed that falls in
love. as the kaleidoscope madness is named
za-Bi also goes the way of all female flesh
and falls In, too. Trouble and more trouble
The same old story, with its many Turing faces
But Za-Bi has more of courage than the most.
So. catching her spirit we go along In pretty
certain hope for something much this side of
disaster for that child. A beautiful story.
captivating realization of Venice by way Of a
group of its own children. Helen Mackey
senses keenly the beauty and the power Of sim
plicity. For this she works in all of her
writings. In this she succeeds so strikingly that
with romance, or travel record or mere pic
lures Of place. the effect is the same-a simple,
delicate, immediate and seizable charm. BY
the way, this lovely romance was awarded
French prize for its beauty and high literary
excellence. And Of it Andre Maur0iS says:
puts Venice in an entirely new light. Differ
ent, because the city is seen through the eyes
Of natives"