New Books for Children

CHRISTMAS, with all the joyous mystery of the season and the gradual building up to the climax of the day itself, is indeed exciting. But then comes the pause, the afterglow, when young people have time left, before schoolwork claims them again, to read and consider the books that thoughtful friends and relatives have selected for them.

An enchanting hide-and-seek story for the youngest child is Gone Is My Goose by Dorothy Koch (Holiday House), with pictures in soft colors by Doris Lee, in which a little farm girl wanders everywhere seeking her pet goose. When she finds the runaway, there is a wonderful surprise of five downy goslings in the tall grass by the creek.

The Cat Who Thought He Was A Tiger, written and illustrated by Polly Cameron (Coward-McCann), is a delightful story of a confused tiger-striped cat who is quite positive he is a tiger until he visits a real tiger at the zoo and is promptly disillusioned.

If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss (Random House) is a superb fantasy with excruciatingly funny pictures by the well-known purveyor of rhyming nonsense. It will delight children and anyone else who opens it.

In the same vein is Edward Lear’s Nonsense Book, selections and illustrations by Tony Palazzo (Garden City). These tantalizing samples of Lear will give today’s children an idea of what amused their parents and grandparents. The illustrations are disappointing, but the rhymes are timeless and as charming as ever.

Anatole by Eve Titus, with engaging pictures by Paul Galdone (Whittlesey House), is the success story of a mouse who lives with his wife and six children in a mouse village outside of Paris, and who succeeds in becoming vice president of a cheese factory.

Mister Penny’s Race Horse by Marie Hall Ets (Viking). Children who have enjoyed Mister Penny will be enchanted this time with the way Limpy, the old race horse, carries off all honors at the fair after the other animals have got into every kind of mischief.

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, pictures by Margaret Bloy Graham (Harper). Harry has a great deal in common with little boys and some little girls, for Harry is allergic to baths. In fact, he dislikes soap and water so much that one day when he hears the water running in the tub he makes off with the scrubbing brush and buries it. The reason Harry finally gets clean and stays that way makes a charming story.

The Elephant and the Flea. pictures and story by Alain (Whittlesey House). This well-known artist who has found time and inclination to turn his talents to the picture-book field has produced a most entertaining tale about an elephant who was constantly being badgered by an elusive flea. The beast’s only relief was to lie flat on his back in the water, but even then he thought he heard the flea laughing.

For young readers from seven to ten, the artist Esphyr Slobodkina has done more than a picture book in The Clock (Abelard-Schuman). This deceptively simple story is set in a town in Vermont where the townspeople have become accustomed to having the voice of the clock in the church tower direct their various activities. The day the clock breaks down there is utter confusion until a deaf old woman takes charge while the clock is being repaired.

Ride on the Wind by Alice Dalgliesh, pictures by Georges Schreiber (Scribner). The author gives a thrilling interpretation for the six-to-ten-year-olds of what Charles Lindbergh in his Spirit of St. Louis did for aviation almost thirty years ago. Handsome design and illustrations.

A Friend Is “Amie” by Charlotte Steiner (Knopf) is almost a French primer with its captivating picture story in rhyme about two small neighbors — Milly from Harris and Lili from Paris — who have no trouble with the language barrier and become fast friends as well.

For young enthusiasts of space-ship travel, Eleanor Cameron has written an exciting successor to her Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet in Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet (Atlantic-Little, Brown). David and Chuck, with the help of Theodosius Bass, build a space ship for the 50,000-mile flight to Basidium, the Mushroom Planet. Trouble, in the person of serious-minded Horatio Q. Peabody, a stowaway on this second flight into space, who wants to tell all, keeps the boys busy protecting the Mushroom people from being discovered.

The Impractical Chimney Sweep by Rosemary Anne Sisson, pictures by Fritz Wegner (Watts). John William really tried to he as practical a chimney sweep as his father. He wriggled up the narrow chimneys that were too tight a squeeze for his corpulent parent and swept them clean of soot. But then, unlike his father, he would linger at the top to watch the pink glow of a sunrise or the twinkling of a silver star. That wasn’t at all practical, and not the way to get on in the world, so John William decided that he must get off on his own and think things out. His travels took him to far places, and his experiences, particularly with the gypsies of Sussex Downs, were revealing indeed. At last he was able to understand many things about himself and return home a happier and perhaps a bit more practical sweep.

Cobblers’ Knob by Eleanor M. Jewett, illustrated by Christine Price (Viking), tells of the experiences of a small girl who accepted a dare to explore a haunted house. What she found in the cobwebby rooms proved more exciting than the expected ghost, and more rewarding still was the discovery of a new friend her own age. Absorbing reading for the nineto-twelve-year-olds.

For children of this age group who enjoy being transported to ancient times and far places, Black Fox of Lorne, written and illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli (Doubleday), is a tale filled with derring-do of clansmen, Picts, and invading Englishmen, who range the misty dunes of tenth-century Scotland.

The Amazing Vacation by Dan Wickenden, illustrated by Erik Blegvad (Harcourt, Brace). When Joanna and Ricky set out to spend their vacation with Uncle Hubert and Aunt Cordelia, they imagined they would have a quiet holiday with perhaps parlor games and the like, but no. From the moment Mrs. Breadloaf, the housekeeper, met them in the Model T and briefed them on their teen-age cousin, Emmeline, whom she described as all there but not exactly all here, then casually mentioned Uncle Hubert’s interest in magic, the stage was set for an amazing summer.

South Sea Holiday by Lydia Davis, illustrated by Tom Davis (Atlantic-Little, Brown). Ten-tofourteen-year-olds with a wanderlust will delight in the adventures of Mandy and Michael Johnston, who sailed with their doctor father when he visited patients on little-known islands in the South Pacific. With Kimi, a native boy their own age, they hunted for treasure, explored lagoons, and even learned to enjoy eating bits of wahoo (raw fish dipped in lime juice and coconut milk).

For young adult readers, especially those who are eager to read, understand, and enjoy Shakespeare, Stories from Shakespeare retold by Marchette Chute (World) is a fine reference book. Miss Chute, one of the best contemporary writers about Shakespeare, has synopsized in one volume all the comedies, tragedies, and histories with helpful notes and comments.

In the Landmark series (Random House) for ages ranging from ten to sixteen, there are ten new titles to choose from, all by writers who know their fields and how to make their subjects interesting to young people. One, The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson, is an account of the weird goings on of a group of mischievous girls who started all that horrible business in 1692 — one of the most unbelievable periods of our history, when innocent people were accused of being witches, tried, and punished with no chance to defend themselves. Mrs. Jackson creates of these shocking facts a fascinating suspense story.

Another noteworthy book in this series is Leonardo da Vinci by Emily Hahn, in which the author tells little-known facts about the gifted painter-inventor of the fifteenth century and skillfully weaves into the story vignettes of Renaissance Italy, the period when Borgias and Medicis were dominating the impecunious artist and exterminating by sword and poison people who got in their way.

Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat, with illustrations by Charles Geer (Atlantic-Little, Brown). This adult story for boys tells of the harrowing adventures of Jamie Macnair and his Cree Indian friend, Awasin, when they accompany the Chipeweyan tribe on a hunting trip at the beginning of an Arctic winter. How they survive after losing the rest of the party and how they learn to live off the frozen Canadian Barrens, their encounters with wild animals and Eskimos, and finally their discovery of ancient Viking cairns, make thrilling reading.

For girls interested in the dance, professionally or otherwise, there are two excellent teen-age novels, Castanets for Caroline by Lorna Hill (Holt) and Dancer’s Daughter by Constance M. White (Dodd, Mead).

Up Periscope by Robb White (Doubleday), for older boys, is the exciting, tightly knit story of a navy frogman who is commissioned during World War II to find and photograph a secret radio code on a Japaneseheld island. He travels by submarine, and much of the book is concerned with the terrific tensions of the men who are trapped under water while warfare goes on above them. An excellent naval action story.

Fifteen by Beverly Cleary (Morrow). Jane Purdy knew she wasn’t the sort who attracted the outstanding boys; but she did wish that one day a boy would magically appear to take her out of the humdrum baby-sitting jobs and family duties that absorbed her free time. The circumstances under which the boy did appear, and the events that follow, make one of the most hilarious yet poignant teen-age novels on the current list. Catnip for girls over twelve.

The following books are all noteworthy and well worth looking over with an eye to the particular child. The World We Live In, a de luxe Golden Book (Simon & Schuster), adapted from Life’s best seller of last year, has over two hundred pages of expert information on land, sea, stars, planets, plus many related fine paintings, maps, and photographs.

Sashes Red and Blue by Natalie Savage Carlson (Harper) is a collection of French Canadian folk stories with detailed pictures, for eight-totwelve-year-olds. Action Starboard by Victor Mays (Houghton Mifflin) is a rousing sea story for older boys, set in 1813 and filled with exciting battles against a background of espionage and intrigue. The Hawaiian Sword by Cyrus T. Fisher (Funk & Wagnalls) is another fast-paced talc, its locale present-day Hawaii.

Don’t miss two late arrivals for the picture-book set, both illustrated with wonderfully composed photographs. The first, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, is a counting book with delectable rhymes, for example, “To see a carrot and to grab it, is the habit of the rabbit. . . Verse is by Arthur Gregor and photographs by Robert Doisneau (Lippincott). The other is The Little Elephant, text by Art hur Gregor, photographs by Ylla (Harper). The photographs of a baby elephant taken in natural surroundings and carried on through the stages of growth up to and including his part in the famous festival of Mysore are magnificent.

A worthy addition to the older child’s library is The Silver Horn of Robin Hood, written and illustrated by Donald Cooke (Winston).

America by Ruth Tooze, decorations by Valenti Angelo (Viking), besides being a poetic documentary of the geography and culture of our country, will spark young minds to seek further information about Mike Fink, Casey Jones. Johnny Appleseed, and other legendary greats. For the sports fans, Ball of Fire by Earl Schenck Miers (World) will provide an entertaining saga of the Northfield nine. Five Were Chosen by William Cox (Dodd, Mead) tells how an unpromising basketball team was molded into a smooth-functioning group by a good coach. Football enthusiasts will find a powerful story in Hard to Tackle by Gilbert Douglas (Crowell), and one that deals, too, with the many pressures that a team comes up against.

There are two books which can’t help giving pleasure to the recipient of whatever age. The first, The Gypsies’ Fiddle by M. A. Jagendorf and C. H. Tillhagen (Vanguard), is a collection of gypsy stories filled with (he gusto of gypsy living. The second, This Way, Delight by Herbert Read, illustrated by Juliet Kepes (Pantheon), is a discerning poetic anthology with selections ranging from the Elizabethans on down, with poems of Emily Dickinson, Tennyson, Kipling, and such moderns as Dylan Thomas and T. S. Eliot.

Two books exactly right for the Christmas stocking are A Christmas Story by Mary Chalmers (Harper), a story that tells of a small girl’s search for a star for the top of her Christmas tree, and Harold’s Fairy Tale, also from Harper, written and illustrated by Crockett Johnson. This is a worthy successor to last year’s Harold and the Purple Crayon.

The Magic Christmas Tree by Lee Kingman, with delicate water colors by Bettina (Ariel), tells the story in a Hans Andersen manner of two seven-year-old girls who decorate the same pine tree in the woods but fail to meet until the snows come and Christmas magic begins to work.

Wumpy’s Christmas Gift by Nancy Nash, illustrated by Richard Floethe (Lothrop). This wonderful childlike tale tells how Wumpy, the nursery elephant, tweaks out his cotton stuffing to patch up the other nursery toys until he gets terribly wobbly. Wumpy is resourceful, though, and before long he is kicking his heels along with his friends in the best party the nursery has ever known.

The Fairy Doll by Rumer Godden, captivating pictures by Adrienne Adams (Viking). The lovely fairy doll, given to the youngest child by her grandmother, stays close by through the year, lending magic encouragement to a little girl whose brothers and sisters are not as helpful as they should he.

Christmas on the Mayflower by Wilma Pitchford Hays (CowardMcCann), with soft winter blue and gray pictures by Roger Duvoisin. That first Christmas dinner, aboard ship, was provided by two of the boy passengers who went ashore and shot enough game for a feast.

The Golden Book of Christmas Tales by James Lewicki (Simon & Schuster). Christmas legends from many lands that have been handed down to each new generation. Many paintings in the classic manner.