Books for Children: A Christmas List
BY CHARLOTTE JACKSON
CHARLOTTE JACKSON, who is the author of seven juveniles,is children’s book editor for the San Francisco CHRONICLE.
The profusion of children’s books that greets the Christmas shopper in this holiday season is indeed confusing if one hasn’t a particular book in mind. Eye-catching jackets and intriguing titles can, at times, conceal nothing of intrinsic value. From this vast abundance, the following books have been chosen for creative presentation of material, high quality of illustration and bookmaking, and above all, for pleasurable and instructive reading. Beginning with the nursery set, the list proceeds in chronological order.
LULLABIES AND NIGHT SONGS, music by Alec Wilder, pictures by Maurice Sendak, edited by William Engvick (Harper & Row). Words and music for forty-eight familiar childhood songs in a large, flat picture book. The artist interprets the lyrics in childlike illustrations executed in a lovely traditional manner with restrained color.
ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE by NIC LEODHAS, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian (Holt, Rinehart and Winston). Suggested by an old Scottish nursery tale, this is a story in rhyme of a merry Scotsman who, though he had ten children, always stood at the door on rainy nights to invite the weary traveler inside. Glossary, a song set to music, and a gay parade of pictures.
NOAH’S ARK, written and illustrated by MICHE WYNANTS (Harcourt, Brace & World). This simplified version of the Bible story, illustrated in full-color collage and black and white, showing animals, people, and the ark, is a distinguished example of book design and the use of this medium.
THREE BY THREE by JAMES KRÜSS, pictures by Johanna Rubin (Macmillan), is told in simple verse in which familiar animals chase each other from sunrise to sunset, always traveling in groups of three. The color is bright, and repetitive action bouncy enough for the youngest.
THE GIANT NURSERY BOOK OF TRAVEL FUN, written and illustrated by GEORGE J. ZAFFO (Doubleday). Outsize comic pictures with suitable captions show children and parents making ready to board trains, airplanes, and boats. There’s leaving the dog at the vet’s, packing bags, stopping milk and newspapers, followed by the most exciting time of all, the trip itself.
WHEN I AM BIG by ROBERT PAUL SMITH, illustrated by Lillian Hoban (Harper & Row). A small, wistful boy reflects on the many activities forbidden him, such as putting electric plugs into sockets, crawling on the roof, picking up broken glass. He then brightens considerably when he remembers that one day he will be grown up and able to admonish his own little boy in like matters. The charming picture sequence blends happily in a text that will amuse small children.
BRIAN WILDSMITH’S 1, 2, 3’s (Watts). The author-artist has written and illustrated a counting book from one to ten, consisting of geometric shapes executed in sparkling color, from the circle, which is one, to rectangles and triangles. All the shapes ultimately emerge as houses, flags, animals, trains, and balloons. An ingenious concept that should make learning to count an enjoyable game.
I HAD TROUBLE IN GETTING TO SOLLA SOLLEW by DR. SEUSS (Random House). The author, in his inimitable rhyming and fantastic talent with paintbrush and color, dreams up all sorts of impossible situations that confront a young traveler on his way to the mythical city of Solla Sollew.
THE CALICO JUNGLE, written and illustrated by DAHLOV IPCAR (Knopf), is an attractive picture book in which a small boy conducts bedtime explorations among a variety of jungle animals, butterflies, and birds, all carefully stitched under flowers and trees in a patchwork quilt. At the very end of the quilt, the animals are asleep, and presumedly, the young explorer.
BABAR COMES TO AMERICA, Written and illustrated by LAURENT DE BRUNHOFF (Random House). In his first trip to the United States, Babar, King of the Elephants, and his family travel across the country, visiting all the tourist spots and sampling American hospitality from coast to coast. The whole tour is highly amusing, and the illustrations in full color are some of the author-artist’s gayest and best.
CINDERELLA, written and illustrated by BENI MONTRESOR (Knopf). The designer of sets and costumes for the Rossini opera based on the Cinderella story, first produced in Rome a century and a half ago and now, for the first time, by the Metropolitan Opera’s touring company, has written his own delightful version of the fairy tale and illustrated it with fanciful paintings of great charm. A handsome picture book by last year’s Caldecott Medal winner.
GRANDPA’S FARM, written and illustrated by JAMES FLORA (Harcourt, Brace & World), is a series of very tall tales that an extremely tall grandfather tells to a small boy sitting on his lap. The tales have a Bunyanesque flavor, such as the one when Grandma and Grandpa, talking to each other during a cold snap, sec their words freeze in midair and have to fry them to know just what is being said. Pictures in striking yellow and blue have the same exaggerated quality as the tales.
ALEXANDER THE MONKEY-SITTER by DAVID CORNEL DEJONG, illustrated by Harvey Weiss (AtlanticLittle, Brown). David, his cat Alexander, his magical umbrella, his grandmother, and all his friends come to the rescue of Mrs. Twill, the baby-sitter, in another hilarious tale involving a much too playful monkey.
THE BOAT THAT MOOED by CHRISTOPHER FRY, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (Macmillan). Tom lived on a fogbound boat with his fisherman uncle who was not given to casual conversation. Tired of talking to himself and of being hemmed in by thick white fog, Tom untied the attached little boat and rowed away to find the sun. Before the sun appeared, the mooing foghorns guided him to a special playmate and other companionable friends. The story is beautifully illustrated in paintings of the changing scene.
KERMIT THE HERMIT, written and illustrated by BILL PEET (Houghton Mifflin). Kermit, a crotchety old crab who lived in a cave piled high with oddments he had picked up on the beach, couldn’t be blamed for being greedy and ill-tempered: his life had been a struggle for every bit of food. His true nature was uncovered when after a near disaster he spent the rest of his days searching for a suitable reward for the boy who saved him. The story is told in rhythmic verse with amusing, colorful pictures that should make it a favorite for reading aloud.
THE GOOD TIGER by ELIZABETH BOWEN, illustrated by M. Nebel (Knopf). The eminent British writer in this, her first juvenile, has created a charming, imaginative story for children from five to eight. It concerns a well-spoken tiger confined in a zoo and a bit unhappy because of quarreling lions next door and the fact that he would rather be in his own green forest. Two children, sympathizing with his predicament, feed him cake, of which he is especially fond, and plan to honor him at a tea party. Unfortunately, adults who do not understand the tiger’s friendly nature upset the tea party (not to mention the tiger), and he runs off. In the end, as with all good stories, the children find their friend and have a happy reunion.
THE ROYAL HICCUPS, story and pictures by DENISE and ALAIN TREZ (Viking). A young prince of India, although rich in worldly goods, was so greedy at mealtime that one day he got the hiccups. The court realized that the usual treatment in these cases was to scare the victim, but the prince, as it is with all princes, was presumably fearless. After much loud lamenting among his subjects, he took matters into his own hands and found a way that cured his hiccups and taught him a valuable lesson as well.
MRS. COVERLET’S DETECTIVES by MARY NASH, illustrated by Garrett Price (Little, Brown). This, the third book about the Persever children and Mrs. Coverlet, the magical housekeeper, is a series of hilariously impossible situations, as were its predecessors. In the present story, a disturbing telegram arrives announcing that Nervous, the family cat, has been kidnapped from a cat show, and everyone is off to the rescue at once.
HERR MINKEPATT AND HIS FRIENDS by URSULA VALENTIN, illustrated by Josef Wilkon (Braziller). A solitary old man cared for the birds in the wood, keeping their feeding stations filled in the winter and directing their nest-building in the spring. When he became too old to go out, he remembered the birdsongs that he had heard, translated them into music, and played them on his piano. His notes drew the birds to him, and resulted in beautiful joint musical concerts. This delightful story lends itself to the lovely illustrations in gay color,
HARLEQUIN AND MOTHER GOOSE or THE MAGIC STICK by RUTH ROBBINS, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov (Parnassus). Mother Goose swoops down from the sky to find the usually happy Harlequin weeping and dejected because Columbine’s miserly uncle, Pantaloon, will not hear of her marriage to the little clown. Mother Goose has a solution to Harlequin’s troubles, but the wily Pantaloon tricks the young pair, and a wild chase ensues in which helpful friends of nursery rhymes pop in and out of the story at auspicious moments. Beguiling pictures in full color by the Caldecott medalist catch the rhythm of this fantasy.
FAIRY TALES by E. E. CUMMINGS, illustrated by John Eaton (Harcourt, Brace & World). These four fairy tales, written by the poet for his own small daughter, are here published in book form for the first time. Phe titles are “The Old Man Who Said ‘Why?’ ” “The Elephant and the Butterfly,” “The Little Girl Named I,” and “The House That Ate Mosquito Pie.” All the tales live up to their enchanting titles and are illustrated in line and full color.
THE MIDDLE YEARS
BROOM-ADELAIDE, written and illustrated by BARBARA C. FREEMAN (Atlantic-Little, Brown). Madame Crowberry, the scheming governess, lay snug and warm under her heavy patchwork quilt while her young charge, the Crown Duchess Adelaide, shivered in the cold, drafty room of the old castle and wondered how she could rid the castle of the old woman who she surmised was the cause of many strange happenings. At that very moment, a small, articulate fox astride a flying broom appeared at the window, and the tale he had to tell about the machinations of the governess in other areas confirmed all Adelaide’s suspicions. The rest of the eerie tale, wherein the fox and Adelaide work in secret until Madame Crowberry is banished forever, is one that will keep young readers spellbound.
THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE by BEVERLY CLEARY, illustrated by Louis Darling (Morrow). Keith was pleased that he rated a room of his own in the old-fashioned hotel where his parents decided to pause during a long transcontinental motor trip. Later he discovered that a hungry but athletic mouse shared his room and watched with sharp eyes as he played with his miniature cars and raced his special favorite, a mousesized motorcycle. How the mouse, Ralph, became an expert cyclist with able assistance from Keith, and how he and his family were at all times well nourished with the unwitting help of room service is the story. Every page of this modern fantasy is filled with the sort of humorous episode that boys and girls enjoy, making it one of those books that is swapped back and forth until it is worn out.
FIVE CHILDREN AND A DOG by RENÉE REGGIANI, illustrated by Margot Tomes (Coward-McCann). Turi, a young Sicilian bandleader who had been a lonely child himself, was sympathetic to all orphans. As a consequence, when he was awarded a musical scholarship in Milan, he found himself with five children and a dog in search of a place to live in the cold northern city. The children managed to charm their way into the heart of an obdurate landlady, get into the most extraordinary pickles, and finally become part of Turi’s act.
THE EMPTY SCHOOLHOUSE by NATALIE SAVAGE CARLSON, illustrated by John Kaufmann (Harper & Row). Ten-year-old Lullah, a Negro child, was overjoyed when a school nearby was desegregated and she would be able to be with her friend Oralee all day and not just after school. Then a school-yard incident occurred that frightened both Negro and white parents, and all children were kept at home. The sequence of events is seen through Lullah’s eyes, a childlike point of view not at all concerned with the parents’ fears but with the inconvenience imposed upon the play and friendship of a child’s world. A warm and gratifying story that demonstrates an intimate knowledge of children and their relationships regardless of color.
A BLOW FOR LIBERTY by STEPHEN MEADER, illustrated by Victor Mays (Harcourt, Brace & World). During the Revolutionary War, Jed Starbuck, indentured to a New Jersey Quaker farmer, was treated well enough, but being a “bound” boy, was not allowed to join the armed forces. He was permitted to become a crew member of a privateer engaging in sea fights against the British, where he distinguished himself and earned enough prize money to buy his freedom. Accurate information of the times and realistic adventure.
THE GALES OF SPRING: THOMAS JEFFERSON, THE YEARS 1789-1801 by LEONARD WIBBERLEY (Ariel). In the third volume in the biography of Thomas Jefferson, the author brings to life the period and the participants in an extremely absorbing account. He points out the fact that Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, both concerned with the welfare of the young nation, were at times diametrically opposed on many important issues, and challenged each other constantly.
WE DICKINSONS: THE LIFE OF EMILY DICKINSON AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF HER BROTHER AUSTIN by AILEEN FISHER and OLIVE It RABE (Atheneum). In this life of the poet as her slightly older brother interprets it for young people, the reader has a complete picture of the close family ties, neighbors, and friends, and will better understand the rigid conventions of New England life of the period. The bibliography and postscript will be helpful for further reading.
THE TWO LIVES OF JOSEPH CONRAD by LEO GURKO (Crowell). This is a straight, well-integrated biography of one of the most remarkable and gifted writers of modern times. Beginning with Conrad’s birth in the Polish Ukraine, the author traces his early tempestuous years in exile, the next twenty years spent at sea, and then his thirty years as a novelist writing in a language not his own but one he mastered at the age of twenty. An instructive foreword and a complete bibliography.
STOCKING STUFFERS
After the Christmas stockings are limp and empty, these four miniature books, stocking stuffers, may aid in keeping the youngest ones gainfully employed until breakfast is ready.
A BOOK OF GOOD TIDINGS FROM THE BIBLE, written and illustrated by JOAN WALSH ANGLUND (Harcourt, Brace & World). Biblical quotations, thoughtfully chosen and all applicable to a child’s world, with the delectable tiny pictures for which this author-artist is famous.
THE LITTLE TINY WOMAN, illustrated by Margot Zemach (BobbsMerrill). The folktale about the little old woman who stole the bone and how a tiny voice haunted her until she gave it back.
LITTLE mans DON’T CRY, written and illustrated by ARNOLD SPILKA (Viking). Drawings of birds and animals on every page, with captions telling what they do and don’t do.
THE ADVENTURES OF WALTER by ELEANOR CLYMER, illustrated by Ingrid Fetz (Atheneum). Walter, a young whale, every bit as curious as The Elephant Child, simply had to find out what life was like on land despite the admonitions of his mother. How he got stranded in the scratchy sand and was subsequently helped by new friends is good adventure reading for new readers. Many tiny paintings in blue and yellow of sea, shore, children, and unhappy Walter.
CHRISTMAS STORIES
AWAY IN A MANGER by MARES NUSSBAUMER, illustrated by Paul Nussbaumer (Harcourt, Brace & World). A story of the Nativity placed in a Swiss setting gives the artist scope for painting some wonderfully snowy scenes and candlelight ceremonies with a medieval feeling. The story itself is told with great reverence. Two familiar songs with music are included.
A CHARM FOR PACO’s MOTHER by LOUISE A. STINETORF, illustrated by Joseph Escourido (John Day). A Mexican Indian boy, who with his blind mother earns a living selling potted cacti to American tourists, is advised by a lady tourist that an operation would enable his mother to see again. Believing that an operation is a kind of charm and knowing that one prays for charms at a certain stone cross on Christmas Eve, Paco sets off. The cross is a far distance from home, and the journey a hard one. Upon his return, he finds that modern miracles are not necessarily charms, but miracles nevertheless.
THE TWELFTH NIGHT SANTONS by MARION GARTHWAITE, illustrated by Winifred Lubell (Doubleday). Pierre, a lame shepherd boy living in Provence, longed to enter the contest for shaping clay into santons (figures in the nativity scene), but his uncle wouldn’t hear of it and ordered him to watch his flock and make sheepskin jackets instead. Pierre disliked his lonely life to the point of resenting the sheep, until one day a tiny ewe, mired in sticky mud, showed him a way out of his dilemma. Lovely watercolors of sheep, santons, and French countryside.
THE SHOE SHOP BEARS by MARGARET J. BAKER, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges (Ariel). After spending the best years of their lives entertaining boys and girls in a shoe shop, three teddy bears hear that the new shop manager is about to replace them with a tank full of tropical fish. Desperately trying to find a new home before being tossed into the rubbish bin, the bears get into all sorts of difficulties, but on Christmas, a wonderful surprise awaits them because of the kindness of a young shop assistant.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, Compiled by Wilhelmina Harper, illustrated by Fermin Rocker (Dutton). This collection of twenty-six stories with a Christmas theme has selections for all ages, written by such distinguished writers as Frank Stockton, Selma Lagerlöf, Oscar Wilde, among others.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS GIFTS by HERTHA PAULI, illustrated by Joan Berg (Washburn). The medieval legend of the Three Kings who followed the new, bright star to Bethlehem to present gifts of myrrh, gold, and frankincense to the Christ Child. The gift they received in return was something far brighter than gold, and more precious than jewels.
JARED’S GIFT by MARGUERITE VANCE, illustrated by Reisie Lonette (Dutton). An orphan boy of Bethlehem, who modeled in clay, fashioned an urn of such beauty, painted a heavenly blue, that it was chosen as a gift for the Christ Child.
TURKEY FOR CHRISTMAS, written and illustrated by MARGUERITE DE ANGELI (Westminster). The children all chose turkey instead of gifts for Christmas when Papa announced that there wouldn’t be enough money for both because of unexpected expense. Sad at first, then gradually becoming imbued with the spirit of the season, they worked like beavers making gifts from whatever came to hand, and as a consequence, they experienced the most joyous Christmas ever. An oldfashioned story with pictures that reflect the period.