Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-25
The Heroes of Our Youth

are still best sellers; camping appeals
more than mechanics, and boy would
rather make hut than a radio. BY
the same token he would rather read
about animals than the kind of people
and adventures found in modern real
istic and psychological fiction. He
doesn't want to fish in the stream of
consciousness, but in the Scurdnahunk.
ernest thompson Seton built a beau
tiful estate in Darien on the proceeds
OF his animal stories. which are still
in demand. Bob, Son of Battle" by
Alfred Olivant, is still selling. How
many copies of The Call of the Wild"
have been sold probably nobody can
say. IL is juvenile now, and hun
oredS OF thousands of people are grow
ing up who will known Jack London
merely as that of the author of this
story.
A recent animal story, "Bambi"
translated from the Austrian writer.
Felix Salten, bids fair to go into this
list Of animal classics, and Of course,
tfe animal stories for little children
by Thornton Burgess go on and on SELL
ing as does that genuine classic. Uncle
Remus.' Your "Old Creole Days" your
Ihomas Nelson Pages, perhaps your
Roark Bradfords come and go, but
Brer Rabbit goes on, apparently. for
ever. The children are making it the
enduring classic of the South, Just as
1t Is the juvenile department which
keeps Uncle Toms Cabin" on the
shelves.
OF course, there are juveniles which,
though best sellers III their day, do not
endure. When I was a boy there were
several writers whose works were enor-
mously popular, but who today seem
to be forgotten. One of them was a
man named Charles Stevens, who lived
in Norway, Maine (and may still. for
they live long up there, and wrote
delightful stories about the Maine will
derness. about hunting moose and pull
ing vast fishes out of wilderness lakes.
/ think ne must have mentioned Katah-
din, because all my life l cherished a
desire to climb that rugged and lonely
summit. When stood upon 1t at last,
and looked over the green wilderness
dotted with quicksilver ponds, I
seemed to be coming back home.
was fulfilling a desire reused in me
years before by Stevens stories.
Another writer of my boyhood. to
whom I owe most of what little mis-
information about history 1 possess, was
G. A. Henty. He wrote long series
of historical stories. such as THE
Young Carthaginian," which were very
popular. Horatio Alger is still sold, but
only on the 10-cent counter. 1 never
read him, however. l was much more
inclined to the classic, and among my
favorite books were Hawthorne's Won
der Book" and "Tanglewood Tales"
which, of course. are still in demand
much more in demand than his adult
novels, though Hawthorne is by no
means one of those authors who is
kept alive only by the children.
There are a great number Of new
juveniles published every year, graded
all the way from picture books for in
fants to stories for boys and girls of
high school age. Most Of them. of
course, are negligible, and perish, even
as the books for adults. Many of these
books trade on the curious idea of
some adults that, because it is for
young people, a juvenile ought to be
cheaper than an adult story. It costs,
alas. as much to print it. and it often
costs the kind of author who should be
writing for boys and girls as much
labor to write it.
They Come In Series.
Some Of the new juveniles, of course,
will go on long time, and a rare one
may become a classic. For instance
how about "Hitty, Her First Hundred
Years. by Rachel Field? This story
Of a doll, which won the Newberry
Medal, has charm, dramatic story
telling quality miss Field is also
dramatisD and historical interest. 1t