Books for Children: A Christmas List

When all the gay, fascinating new toys have been duly tested, and the new robes and slippers tried on, under the tree there is still that neatly tied package that can’t be anything but a book — a book that has been selected by some thoughtful aunt, grandmother, friend, or parent to nourish the young mind as well as to entertain. This list, in chronological order, beginning with books for the youngest, is to assist that donor in finding the particular book to suit the taste of the particular child.

OUR NEW BABY’S ABC by BEMAN LORD, illustrated by Velma Ilsley (Walck), is a fresh and welcome approach to the well-worn theme of care and feeding. In it a toddler proudly explains in his own way the daily routine of a new baby brother. Illustrated in delicate nursery colors.

THE LITTLEST MOTHER GOOSE, illustrated by Charlotte Steiner (Random House), is a collection of twelve familiar rhymes with minuscule pictures in bright color. Each rhyme contains the word “little,” and the book itself is the proper size for one small hand to hold.

MAY I BRING A FRIEND? by BEATRICE SCHENK DE REGNIERS, illustrated by Beni Montresor (Atheneum). When a small boy is invited to Sunday tea by the king and queen, he has the temerity to ask if he can bring a friend. The gracious monarchs agree, and welcome many of his animal friends, as the invitations are extended through the whole week. This tale gives the artist full scope to produce, page after page, some of his most amusing animal illustrations to date.

GIANT JOHN, written and illustrated by ARNOLD LOBEL (Harper & Row). An easygoing giant, who loved to dance happily to fairy music in the enchanted forest, had one problem: he was extremely poor. In fact, he and his mother were down to their last potato chip. How John remedied this situation makes a fine story in which comic, outsize illustrations contribute a great deal.

SEE AGAIN, SAY AGAIN, written and illustrated by ANTONIO FRASCONI (Harcourt, Brace & World). Distinguished woodcuts in brilliant color depict zoos, markets, street scenes, seasonal activities, and other subjects any child will respond to. Each scene and object is designated by its proper name in English, Italian, French, and Spanish.

EDITH AND MR. BEAR, story and photographs by DARE WRIGHT (Random House). Edith, despite Mr. Bear’s orders, simply couldn’t resist playing with his handsome new clock. When it crashed to the floor and broke, she was most unhappy, but later when Mr. Bear asked her point-blank about the incident, she denied the whole thing. The photographer provides a wonderful series of lifelike photographs of dolls and bears in action.

SUGAR ON SNOW by NANCY DINGMAN WATSON, illustrated by Aldren A. Watson (Viking). A birthday party at maple-sugaring time that captures all the fun and activity, and the sparkling, wintry feeling of the woods. The wash drawings in cold blue and white add greatly to the delightful story.

WHISTLE FOR WILLIE, written and illustrated by EZRA JACK KEATS) (Viking). The winner of last year’s Caldecott medal has written another charming story about a small boy who wanted more than anything else in the world to pucker up and winstie, and pictures the activities that led to this accomplishment.

BEASTLY BOYS AND GHASTLY GIRLS, edited by William Cole, illustrated by Tomi Ungerer (World). These poems about impossible children will bring chuckles from parents and children alike. The collection comprises some of the better-known nonsense humor of Lewis Carroll, Hilaire Belloc, A. A. Milne, Gelett Burgess, A. E. Housman, and many others, down to and including admonitions to the young fry from Ogden Nash, John Ciardi, and William Jay Smith.

THE SUGAR MOUSE CAKE by GENE ZION, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham (Scribner’s). An ambitious young pastrycook in the king’s kitchen has a staunch friend and ally in the person of a tiny white mouse. In a cake contest, which means everything to the cook, his mouse friend bravely faces danger without the quiver of a whisker, thus enabling the cook to win the coveted first prize. A well-told, thoroughly delightful story, with matching pictures in petit-four colors.

CURREN, illustrated by Kurt Werth (Lothrop). The dramatic presentation of salient points, the use of color in pictures of historic moments, and the general approach to the story of the growth of Boston from an Indian village to the present day will hold the interest of even the most restless reader. It is an admirable book in both design and content.

A SPELL IS CAST by ELEANOR CAMERON, illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush (Atlantic-Little, Brown). When Cory landed at the Monterey airport and neither her uncle nor her grandmother was there to meet her, she sensed that all wasn’t as it should be. Neighbors, who seemed fairly odd and were to play a significant part in her summer adventures, saw that she got to her grandmother’s castlelike house, where she was to spend the summer. Because she arrived with a very special problem of her own and found other situations in the neighborhood just as puzzling, her holiday was never dull, and at times was a bit frightening. At last the skies cleared for everyone concerned, and Cory was positive that the tiny unicorn amulet she wore around her neck was at least partly responsible for the happy conclusion.

DOLLY MOSES, THE CAT AND THE CLAM CHOWDER by MARY ELLEN CHASE, illustrated by Paul Kennedy (Norton). The author recalls a particularly hectic period in her childhood in which a stray cat was added to the already burgeoning household of children and pets. Dolly Moses — her name tag identified her — had but one accomplishment; she could throw sparks from her fur in a dark closet but was otherwise a plain nuisance. Her predilection for clams was her final undoing, and she disappeared, much to the relief of everyone.

RIBSY by BEVERLY CLEARY, illustrated by Louis Darling (Morrow). Ribsy, who belonged to Henry Huggins, was the kind of dog that no one could resist patting or familiarly calling Mutt or Pooch. So when this friendly dog jumped out of the station wagon at the supermarket simply to hunt for Henry, his friendliness led him into hilarious situations one after another, until a whole month flew by before he found Henry again. This latest story by the author of several humorous books for the under-twelve group tops them all and is guaranteed to produce chuckles in girls and boys alike.

VOICES IN THE MEADOW by J.

ALLAN BOSWORTH, illustrated by Joseph Schindelman (Doubleday). When the quiet, friendly life of small meadow creatures was first disturbed by “the awful shrew,” and then by dire predictions of the gloomy raven, all the small animals and even the fireflies and birds became frightened. Fortunately the culprit was soon discovered and order was restored. A pleasant nature story with fine touches of humor and suspense.

MISKA MILES, illustrated by Erik Blegvad (Atlantic-Little, Brown).

Two children living on a small farm in Colorado were almost as unhappy about the long walk to school each day as they were about the bully who teased them once they arrived. A kindly neighbor solved part of the situation by giving them Star, an aging but playful pony who could easily manage the two-mile walk between farm and school. Then one day when a blizzard struck suddenly, the bully’s teasing energy was automatically diverted to a bit of rescue work in which the whole school joined. Good adventure reading with an informative background.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY by ROALD DAHL, illustrated by Joseph Schindelman (Knopf). This cautionary tale by the author of James and the Giant Peach tells in prose and poem exactly what happened to the five children who were chosen to explore the famous chocolate factory of Mr. Willie Wonka. Full of magical nonsense and uproarious situations, with a tiny germ of a moral artfully inserted in each chapter.

THE GRIZZLY by ANNABEL and EDGAR JOHNSON, illustrated by Gilbert Riswold (Harper & Row). David hardly knew his father, who was to take him on a fishing trip, as he had seen little of him since his parents had separated. David did know that his father was the rugged outdoor type, and he dreaded the coming rough weekend. On the trip an angry mother bear demolishes the truck and attacks and injures his father. Suddenly the boy’s hidden strength comes to the fore, and he realizes that there is a special bond between him and his father, and one that he hopes in time will include his mother.

A DAMN IN THE TREES by LEONARD WIBBERLEY (Ariel) is the second volume in the life of Thomas Jefferson, but it can be read independently of the first. It covers the period between 1776 and 1789, the years when Jefferson was going on diplomatic missions to France and England, debating the famous Declaration with our Founding Fathers, and whenever he could, tearing himself away from matters of government to ride the many miles on horseback from Washington to Virginia for time with his family and to continue the building of Monticello.

TITUBA OF SALEM VILLAGE by ANN PETRY (Crowell). The main thread of this book concerns the struggle for freedom of thought and action by Tituba, a slave transported from Barbados to New England during the witchcraft trials in the early seventeenth century. The hysterical climate of this dark period is well presented in an absorbing story.

CAPE COD CASKET by LOCKHART

AMERMAN (Harcourt, Brace & World). Jonathan Flower took what sounded like an easy job as tutor to eleven-year-old twins summering on Cape Cod, but he quickly reversed his opinion when a hearse picked him up at the airport and a shot barely missed him once he got to the house. The harassments of the succeeding days are frightening. An excellent plot, witty, clever dialogue, and as good an armchair mystery as the author’s earlier book, Guns in the Heather.

ISHI, THE LAST OF HIS TRIBE by

THEODORA KROEBER, illustrated by Ruth Robbins (Parnassus Press).

This story re-creates the childhood of Ishi, the remaining survivor of the Yahi tribe, a people ruthlessly exterminated by the white man during the period of western expansion in the early part of the twentieth century. Based on anthropological study and familiarity with the locale, this novel emerges as a sensitive, compassionate reconstruction of a period and a boy’s fight for life. Ishi in Two Worlds, the factual account of Ishi after he emerged from his primitive world as a man, was written previously for adults.

SAMANTHA’S SURPRISE, written and illustrated by BETHANY TUDOR (Lippincott). Very young children will enjoy the busy Christmas preparations of two plush ducklings who bustle about cleaning house, baking cakes and cookies, decorating with cones and boughs, not to mention making presents in secret for each other. Pretty Christmas scenes accompany the story.

LITTLE BEAR’S CHRISTMAS by JANICE, illustrated by Mariana (Lothrop). Walking through the woods one winter’s night when the moonlight kept him from sleeping, Little Bear saw the children skating on the pond, and listened to their talk of Santa Claus and Christmas, which was all a surprise to him. Soon though, he joined in the festivities, and before he knew it, Santa Claus had chosen him to ride in the sleigh and help distribute presents to boys and girls.

THE YEAR SANTA WENT MODERN by

RICHARD ARMOUR, illustrated by Paul Galdone (McGraw-Hill). When Santa took the advice of Slick, his foreman, and got a station wagon to replace his sleigh and reindeer, and then went so far as to shave off his whiskers, he suddenly got qualms of conscience. The good saint always has devices for getting out of dilemmas, and this occasion was no exception. Comic pictures in color supplement the light verse.

CLAUS by OGDEN NASH, illustrated by Walter Lorraine (Little, Brown). If anyone thinks Santa’s life is a picnic, he should read these rhymes, which tell the real story of just what has gone on at the North Pole ever since Christmas Eve in 1776. Tiny sketches in appropriate color of events past and present.

THE 24 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS by MADELEINE L’ENGLE, illustrated by Inga (Ariel). Another story of the well-chronicled Austin family, all of them frantic with happy activity during the three weeks before Christmas. Seven-year-old Vicky could hardly wait to appear as the angel in the Christmas pageant, when an untimely blizzard intervened. The storm, however, failed to interrupt the appearance of the new baby, who arrived on Christmas Eve, a joyous climax to the whole season.

NATALIE SAVAGE CARLSON, illustrated by John Kaufmann (Harper & Row). When a French-Canadian boy was told that his family couldn’t afford to buy him an accordion for Christmas, it seemed a fine idea to attach a begging letter to one of the fir trees his father was shipping to the United States. The letter set in motion a surprising chain of events, at first humiliating to a proud family but eventually the means of making two boys of different backgrounds become fast friends. This is more than a Christmas story, with its lively, humorous scenes of Canadian farm life. There are many strong drawings of the northern countryside throughout.

A ROUND OF CAROLS, illustrated by Helen Sewell, musical arrangements by T. Tertius Noble (Walck). This selection of thirty-four beautiful carols, with simple piano arrangements, is once more available. The blackand-white illustrations have great beauty and a quiet simplicity in keeping with the reverent theme of the carols.

CASTAWAY CHRISTMAS by MARGARET J. BAKER, illustrated by Richard Kennedy (Farrar, Straus). This was to be a very special Christmas for the Ridley children, whose parents, traveling most of the year, usually left them at their respective schools. Now everyone was to forgather at a rented cottage in the country for the holidays. The young people managed to get to the cottage before the rivers rose and the countryside was flooded, and busied themselves with Christmas preparations. The parents, delayed in Paris till the very day, arrived in time to share in the festivities. A heartwarming story of Christmas spirit against a wintry English background.

THE PIPER by EDEN VALE STEVENS, illustrated by Fermin Rocker (Atheneum). A symbolic tale of a small boy in eighteenth-century England whose father had died fighting for the king and whose mother had simply vanished. Living in squalor with other homeless waifs, all of whom have to fight for every crust of bread, he determines that he must find his mother. So, with his precious reed pipe in his pocket, he sets out on Christmas Eve. The story of his wanderings has a definite flavor of Dickens.