A famous Breton folk-tale which is made additionally attractive by the unusual quality of the illustrations.

I will not say that I have added nothing to the unconnected recitals of the Breton peasants, ... but I have added only what was necessary to link together the different events, and to supply passages that were entirely wanting.--Preface.

Mr. Paine writes in his delightful vein of Mr. Coon, Mr. Possum, and Mr. Crow. The book is always funny, and Mr. Condé's pictures are in their way as good as the text.

These eight wonder stories incidentally illustrate the every-day life of the people. The Japanese pictures are reproduced in color.

Poetry, Collections Of Poetry And Prose, And Stories Adapted From Great Authors

Mr. Lucas has shown his unvarying good taste in compiling this charming volume. Most of the poems are British, and among them are many delightful old songs and rhymes, verses of bygone days, ballads, and carols.

This admirable collection of poems, chosen from the standpoint of childish enjoyment, forms a lane of lovely verse leading into the great highway of literature. The poems are classified under different headings such as The Flower Folk, Other Little Children, Playtime, Story time, and Bedtime.

Religion And Ethics

Children will enjoy the fine illustrations in this soberly bound volume, whose brown coat is much the color of the one good Pilgrim wore on the long journey where he led the way for so many earnest souls.

No David can fall so low but that Christ's mercy and God's love can lift him from the depths of selfishness and sin back to the throne of manhood and the sceptre of influence.--Introductory Study.

Even young children can grow to love the simpler and more peaceful Psalms. The fine full-page pictures in this large well-printed volume add to its beauty and interest.

Science, Out-of-door Books, And Stories Of Animals

"Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in Over the Teacups, says of the story Eyes and No Eyes: I have never seen anything of the kind half so good. I advise you, if you are a child anywhere under forty-five, and do not yet wear glasses, to send at once for Evenings at Home, and read that story. For myself, I am always grateful to the writer of it for calling my attention to common things."

Eyes and No Eyes, and Travellers' Wonders, from Aiken and Barbauld's Evenings at Home, The Three Giants, by Mrs. Marcet, and A Curious Instrument, by Jane Taylor, are the tales given. They all encourage a child's powers of observation.

While these elementary talks have been arranged to accompany the school year, they give so much information about fruits and seeds, young plants, roots and stems, flowers, et cetera, told in Mrs. Dana's clear, informing way, that we shall all want our children to know the book, and to learn the great lesson of how to see, which is taught them. The many illustrations are helpful.

The insects described are the more interesting common forms of Spring and early Summer. The plain little volume contains twenty short, fully illustrated chapters.

Stories

A vivid description of Norwegian farm and saeter life. Little Lisbeth loses her mother and goes to live with the good Kjersti, the mistress of Hoel Farm, helping to take care of the cattle.

Hans Aanrud's short stories are considered by his own countrymen as belonging to the most original and artistically finished life pictures that have been produced by the younger literati of Norway.--Preface.

Written by an eminent German philosopher, and translated by Mrs. Sarah Austin for her own daughter, this beautiful tale, with its exquisite language, leads a child into the land of truth and beauty.

An account of Lieutenant Peary's little daughter, who was born amid the ice and snow of the Polar regions. The book is well illustrated from photographs.

Three phases of Indian life in California, given in the form of a story. The ways and customs of the red man are described as they existed during the early days of this boy, before the coming of the whites. Later Docas had his home at the Mission in the days of Father Junipero Serra, and last of all, an old old man, dwelt, with his children and grandchildren, on a ranch.

Nine Years of Age

Amusements And Handicraft

This book of suggestions for children's games and employments will be a help to the busy mother when her own supply of indoor and outdoor amusements is exhausted. There are directions for five hundred plays and pastimes, including gardening, candy-making, and writing, guessing, and acting, games.

Biography, History, And Government

This account of the boyhood of ten lads illustrates different periods and civilizations from Aryan days to the present time.

The narrative of the first two years of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, based largely on Governor Bradford's history. Maps and illustrations add to the book's interest.

I have given as much of Bradford's own story as possible in the following pages, interwoven with the relations of Mount and Winslow, to which Bradford himself makes frequent reference.--Preface.

The history of our country naturally divides itself into three portions. First, there is the period of Discovery and Exploration.... It is with this romantic time that the present volume deals.... The latest authorities have been made tributary to this volume, and the author has spared no pains to have it correct in every statement of facts, and in the difficult matter of dates.--Preface.

An elementary account of Hellas from legendary times to its becoming a Roman province. Many well-known mythical and historic tales are included. There are maps and illustrations.

This companion to The Story of the Greeks gives, in like manner, a simple relation of Roman history from mythical days to the fall of the Empire. It contains maps and illustrations.

Children will find this small book interesting. It tells of the lives of some of the noted painters of different lands and periods; among them Raphael, Rembrandt, Reynolds, and Millet. The illustrations are from famous paintings.

A companion to Stories of Great Artists, which briefly recounts the careers of famous musicians; among them Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Wagner. Many of the illustrations are from paintings.

The brief pathetic life of Powhatan's daughter is well portrayed. This large oblong volume contains full-page pictures in color.

These short sketches of colonial life picture the first New England Christmas and a Puritan Sabbath. They also tell of the use of the hornbook and the sun-dial, describe the making of soap and candles, and so forth.

Although we learn about our country from prehistoric days to the time of Washington, most of the book is devoted to the early exploration and settlement of North and South America. The second chapter contains an account of the Mound-builders.

Geography, Travel, And Description

Our young people will enjoy hearing of the amusements and festivals of these far-away boys and girls. The volume contains, in addition, child stories, and an article entitled The Games and Sports of Japanese Children, by W.E. Griffis.

Mythology, Folk-lore, Legends, And Fairy Tales

The tales in this excellent little edition are well chosen.

"The author, a distinguished Norwegian student of folk-lore and zoölogy, made long journeys on foot for scientific purposes, in the course of which he collected, among others, these popular stories and legends. Mr. Braekstad in his translation endeavors to retain the atmosphere of the original."

It will be seen that the Mythology adopted throughout is strictly of the old-fashioned kind which goes to Ovid as its leading authority, and ignores the difference between the gods of Greece and the gods of Rome.--Preface.

This small volume is included because it gives quite fully the Labors of Hercules.

Hindoo fairy legends of Southern India, recorded by Miss Frere in 1865-1866, as they were related to her by her Indian ayah during a tour through the Southern Mahratta country, in the Bombay Presidency, of which Sir Bartle Frere, her father, was then Governor.

Barring a few horrible incidents, this is an excellent selection of these famous stories. Mr. Rackham's illustrations help to place the edition above many others.

With very few exceptions, an unusually wise choice of the Tales.

No epoch of time can claim a copyright in these immortal fables. They seem never to have been made; and certainly, so long as man exists, they can never perish.--Preface.

Hawthorne wrote comparatively little for children. Let us be thankful that he did retell with such charm these Greek myths. The full-page pictures in color are worthy of the stories, which comprise The Gorgon's Head, The Golden Touch, The Paradise of Children, The Three Golden Apples, The Miraculous Pitcher, and The Chimæra.

For centuries the songs of Homer ... have delighted the children, young and old, of many lands. But part of our own heritage, and nearer to us in race and time, are these stories of the Danish Beowulf and the Swedish Fridthjof.--Preface.

These simple versions of saga and epic recount for our children the bravery and endurance of a ruder age.

Children will love to dwell for a time in Russia with the boy who was always saying "Tell me a story, little grandmamma." The character of the grandmother is drawn in a measure from that of Dr. Kraus's peasant mother, who was, though illiterate, intelligent and learned in the wonder-lore of her people.

I have endeavored to include in this volume the best and most typical stories told by the chief masters of the Celtic folk-tale, Campbell, Kennedy, Hyde, and Curtin, and to these I have added the best tales scattered elsewhere.... In making my selection, and in all doubtful points of treatment, I have had resource to the wide knowledge of my friend Mr. Alfred Nutt in all branches of Celtic folk-lore.... With him by my side I could venture into regions where the non-Celt wanders at his own risk.--Preface.

The charm and humor of Celtic tradition is conveyed to the reader.

From all these sources--from the Jatakas, from the Bidpai, and from the more recent collections--I have selected those stories which throw most light on the origin of fable and folk-tales, and at the same time are most likely to attract English children.--Preface.

This is a rather unattractive little volume, but the myths are so well told that we feel while reading them that real events of heroic days are being recounted.

In these Greek tales Kingsley is at his best for children. He writes without digression, the language is clear and dignified, and we feel the spirit of the bygone age of which the story tells. Many of the illustrations are in color.

This original and charming story is in some parts rather over the heads of children, and a few of the incidents seem gruesome to the compiler. For this reason it is better to read the book to the child, so that these portions may be omitted.

Selma Lagerlöf, the foremost writer of Swedish fiction, in response to a commission to prepare a reader for the public schools, devoted three years to nature study, and to seeking out hitherto unpublished folk-lore and legends of the different provinces. The result, of which we have as yet only the first volume, is this remarkable book. Bad cruel Nils is transformed into an elf, and on the back of a goosey-gander, Thumbietot, as he is now called, visits distant regions, and learns kindness to his animal brothers.

In this volume, second in order of publication, less familiar fairy stories are given, including The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Kari Woodengown, and Mother Holle.

This beautiful wonder story, because of its pathos, should perhaps be withheld from a very sensitive child.

These naturally serve as the gate of entrance into the wide open fields of literature, especially into those of poetry. Poetry is one of the most efficient means of education of the moral sentiment, as well as of the intelligence. It is the source of the best culture.--Preface.

The altogether charmingly impossible story of the travels of a little boy and a bear who played the violin.

"And they travelled on forever and they'll never, never sever, Bosephus and the fiddle and the old black bear."

Any undertaking of Mr. Pyle's is a guarantee of distinction in material, style, and production, and these four and twenty fairy tales, one for each hour of the day, are no exception. The illustrations are among the author's best, and Miss Katharine Pyle supplies charming little verses for the different hours.

The tales contained in this volume have been the delight of many generations of children, and can, in fact, claim a very distant origin, though they were retold in their present form as late as the age of Louis XIV. They are generally supposed to have come from the East, for they are to be found in varied forms in all the countries of Europe that sent forth Crusaders.... As children always like stories to be retold in the same words as far as possible, these tales have not been rewritten (except in two cases); the original translations in their quaint simplicity have been collected, and merely corrected so far as to meet the modern ideas of the kind of tale to be given to children; the old ones being occasionally a little coarse.--Preface.

Madame D'Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and La Princess de Beaumont, are represented in this collection, taken, with few exceptions, from French sources.

Under an open sky, nestling close to the earth, the old Dakota story-tellers have told me these legends.--Preface.

Poetry, Collections Of Poetry And Prose, And Stories Adapted From Great Authors

"Ye who love a nation's legends,
Love the ballads of a people
That like voices from afar off
Call to us to pause and listen,
. . . . . . . .
"Listen to this Indian Legend,
To this Song of Hiawatha!"

Religion And Ethics

The life of Christ told with simplicity and breadth, making real to children the events of the Gospel story. Tested by ten years' home use before publication. The biblical text is not adhered to strictly.

Science, Out-of-door Books, And Stories Of Animals

In the present work the writer has attempted to furnish in simple language, aided by pictorial illustrations when thought necessary, a knowledge of things in Nature, Science, and the Arts, which are apt to awaken a child's curiosity.--Preface.

Young people thoroughly enjoy this excellent book.

Though Mrs. Miller is herself an expert, she tells us that she has been careful to have the latest and the best authorities for the statements made, and presents a list of them. The author, while never a sentimentalist, constantly teaches kindness to the birds. There are both colored and plain plates.

Miss Apis Mellifica, with her wonderful eyes, her queer tongue, her useful furry legs, and her marvellous ways, is described for us in delightfully simple fashion by Miss Morley, who has also made many instructive and interesting small illustrations. The last chapter is on Bombus, the Bumblebee.

"This book, like its predecessor, aims to give to young pupils an accurate and readable account of the life histories of some common insects. It is designed for use during the autumn months."

There are many illustrations.

Primarily intended to inculcate kindness to dogs, and other animals. It is pleasant to know that the tale has secured an immense popularity.

The horse gives his own account of his life with good and bad masters; the purpose of the book being to instil care and consideration for animals. Many copies have been distributed among draymen and cabmen. Children find the story very interesting.

Stories

Mrs. Burnett's well-known story of the little American boy who in the course of events becomes heir to an English earldom is included in this list because of the beautiful and kindly spirit shown by the child to those about him.

Professor Drummond wrote these two tales--his first attempt at fiction--while acting as temporary editor of a children's magazine. The first, that of Tricky, was so liked by children all over the world that the second, Gum, was written soon after. Mr. Wain's pictures are very good.

Selections from the writings of Maria Edgeworth, Mary Lamb, Peter Parley, and others.

"The children come, the children go;
To-day grows quickly yesterday;
And we, who quiz quaint fashions so,
We soon shall seem as quaint as they."

The children of those days--our great-great-grandfathers--expected didacticism. It was part of the game.... In the present collection there is, I think, no example either of condescension or showing-off--the two principal faults of books for children. All the authors seem to me to be simple and single-minded: they wished above all to be interesting.--Introduction.

Written in accordance with modern views of science, and calculated to give children a good idea of prehistoric man and his ways. What is more, the story is sufficiently interesting to attract them.--The Athenæum.