Evening star., 1935-11-17

dificult to make this new idea clear
to the youth Of the Nation. and get
them back to . serious outlook on
literature once more, when the brief
fm-readtng time II over-stiu one
can only contemplate such an at
tempt with approval. Book week un-
questionahly deserves to be q success.
To be sure, the actual makers Of
childrens books In recent times seem
to have had In mind . longer lease
on pleasure than one week. For q
good many years they have been
turning out works that in general
artistic merit and well-considered
charm srrpass the level Of any other
moderately-priced type Of book. The
meretricious, the vulgar. the stupid
books put out for children are few,
compared with the total number. On
the contrary, excellent illustrations
and matter-of-fa texts are the
average.
THIS fact makes the examination
= of the present accumulation Of
juveniles on the reviewers desk a
pleasure. Consider, for example, the
utterly delightful animal fantasy by
Dorothy P. Lathrop called, who
Goes There?" It Is q book Of chip
munks. squirrels (gray. red and fly.
ing), field mice. rabbits, porcupines
and q villain crow-as well as Of Win
ter foliage, barks. cones and feathery
tracks In the SHOWS. Miss Lathrop
has used a lithograph pencil to create
these little peoples and their en-
vironment, and has contrived some
thing that Is delicate, charming and
wholly persuasive from beginning to
end. Macmillan publishes it.
Another animal book to which one
may turn from almost any work Of
statistics, without much Of q wrench,
Is "Topgallant, the Story of a Her
ring Gull" The text Of this work
is by Marjorie Medary. 1t tells OF
the adventures encountered by such
q bird in its FIRST two years of life
with what scientific accuracy one is
not prepared to state, but with a re-
gard for interest that must be ap-
preciated.
Thirty-five wash drawings by Lynd
Ward illustrate this story. They are
done with q finish Of style that would
seem to be helpful in molding the
younger generations artistic taste-if.
Of course, 50 utilitarian an end Is not
inconsistent with reading for fun.
The publishers are Harrison Smith
and Robert Haas.
A rather informative volume on fish
is Water People," written and IL
lustrated in color by Wrfrid Swan
court Bronson. Opening 1t at ran
dom one reads this alarming news,
Some fishes like seaweed. and eat it,
but there Is not nearly enough TO 60
around"
To quote further would be to be-
tray the plot and one refuses to do
anything 20 unsporting. But an ink
ling Of what happens In submarine
economic crises may be conveyed by
the illustration accompanying these
ominous words. It Is q fight. some
, what like the kind called on land a
free for ALL" with q big swordfish
obviously deepest in the money. Mr..
Bronson has been staff artist on four
scientific marine expeditions and his
water people are astonishingly human
in some of their facial expressions.
His publisher Is the Wise Parslow Co.
SUCH esoteric information as tina,
- the phororhacos once roamed
Patagonia and that the glyptodont
was native to Brazil In the Pleistocene
Age (Which Is to say 100000 years
ago) is contained in the Raymond L
Ditmars' Book Of Prehistoric An
imals," published by the J. B. Lppin.
colt Co. While at first 1t may seem
trine hard to feel much affection fol
q glyptodont, it becomes evident from
Helene Carter's pictures Of this mon
ster (and his like) that he probably
had . very good heart, if the truth
were told. And what is q milltor
years, when 1t comes to uncoverine
truth? Anyway, her glyptodonts sne
their friends cannot be regarded In.
differently. They have hitherto un.
suspected emotional poignancy abou
them. Particularly is this true Of thu
scleromochlus, who Is shown tearing
across Scotland at what must be {
great speed, with his hands claspec
on his bosom In unmistakable anxiet!
anu his hinderparts Tapping out yer!
like q tail coat. What errand drive
him on? One wonders. DR.. Ditmars
who is curator Of the New York Zoo
logical Park, undoubtedly would know
The illustrations are In the form o
maps and are colored.
Travel Books for Children.
No less serious q writer than Hen
dirk van Loon has contributed to tn
younger generations week Of fun on,
Is happy to announce, and that in I
book form cuStomarily reserved To-
the very young indeed. It is the olt
alphabetical text idea which used t,
begin "A Is for apple" and end will
~ Is for ZEBRA" its purpose being Il
teach youngsters the 4 B C's.
Mr.. van Loon has widened this or.
iginal intent. He says that his bool
Is ITO teach little children their let
tiers and at the same time give theil
papas and mamas something to thini
about" He begins, "A is for Athens,
continues, "B is for Barohudur" ant
end ~ is for Zermatt." He calls II
all Around the World With the Al
phabet." He made his own illustra.
tions-they are in color-and Simon
q Shuster are his publishers.
A second travel book-one Of I'm.
usual beauty-is Jamaica Johnny.
by Berta and Elmer Hader, with illus
trations by the authors. Il Is q story
about q little Jamaican, as may per-
haps be imagined; its Illustrations -
some In color and some In black and
white-are enchanting. The book u
published by the Macmillan Co.
SOMEWHAT in the same manner Il
~ Ann Ratzesberger's Camel Bells, NJ
since it, too. tells its tale Of foreign
1>~A khras,nts ftA cforu ~ q ,otius