A Mothers List of Books for Children | Page 7

most imaginative of children must find in them, not
only something to charm, but also to mould pleasant associations for maturer years.
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON.

MYTHOLOGY, FOLK-LORE, LEGENDS, AND FAIRY TALES
And as with the toys, so with the toy-books. They exist everywhere: there is no
calculating the distance through which the stories come to us, the number of languages
through which they have been filtered, or the centuries during which they have been told.
Many of them have been narrated, almost in their present shape, for thousands of years
since, to little copper-coloured Sanscrit children, listening to their mother under the
palm-trees by the banks of the yellow Jumna--their (p. 42) Brahmin mother, who softly
narrated them through the ring in her nose. The very same tale has been heard by the
Northmen Vikings as they lay on their shields on deck; and by Arabs couched under the
stars on the Syrian plains when the flocks were gathered in and the mares were picketed
by the tents. THACKERAY.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator). Aladdin. Lane. .25
These richly colored Eastern pictures will give even little children a suggestion of the
splendor of the Orient. Let us hope that they will never be too ready to answer the call of
"New lamps for old ones."
Walter Crane is the serious apostle of art for the nursery, who strove to beautify its ideal,
to decorate its legends with a real knowledge of architecture and costume, and to mount
the fairy stories with a certain archæological splendor.... As a maker of children's books,
no one ever attempted the task he fulfilled so gayly, and no one since has beaten him on
his own ground. GLEESON WHITE.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator). Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Lane. .25
It seems hardly right to omit this edition of so celebrated a tale pictured by so celebrated
an artist, yet Mr. Crane's work breathes mystery and Oriental cunning from every page,
and should be given to our youngsters only after examination, as a highly-strung child
might be frightened by it. The picture of the resourceful Morgiana filling the oil-jars,
while a dreadful robber with saucer-like eyes peers (p. 43) from one of them, is awful
indeed.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator). Beauty and the Beast. Lane. .25
Charming illustrations accompany this prose version of the ancient favorite which will
long endure because of the great truth underlying the grotesque tale.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator). Cinderella. Lane. .25
May every little girl find the fairy prince of her imagination!
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator). The Frog Prince. Lane. .25
The story of the frog who was transformed into the handsome prince is as immortal as
childhood. May we all remember the King's command to his daughter: "He who helped

you in the time of your trouble must not now be despised."
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator). Jack and the Bean-Stalk. Lane. .25
Ogre-like indeed is the giant, and we breathe a sigh of relief when verses as well as
pictures make it quite certain that Jack has escaped for the third time with his golden
treasure. The beans of King (p. 44) Alfred's day seem to have closely resembled the wild
oats of our own.
CRANE, WALTER (Illustrator). The Sleeping Beauty. Lane. .25
"So sweet a face, so fair--was never beauty such as this; He stands--he stoops to gaze--he
kneels-- he wakes her with a kiss. He leads her forth; the magic sleep of all the Court is
o'er-- They wake, they move, they talk, they laugh, just as they did of yore A hundred
years ago."

POETRY, COLLECTIONS OF POETRY AND PROSE, AND STORIES ADAPTED
FROM GREAT AUTHORS
Children seem to possess an inherent conviction that when the hole is big enough for the
cat, no smaller one at the side is needed for the kitten. They don't really care for
"Glimpses" of this, or "Gleanings" of that, or "Footsteps" to the other--but would rather
stretch and pull, and get on tiptoe to reach the sweeter fruit above them, than confine
themselves to the crabs which grow to their level. Miss RIGBY. 1844.
COWPER, WILLIAM. *The Diverting History of John Gilpin. Illustrated by Randolph
Caldecott. Warne. .25
A spirited delineation of the never-to-be-forgotten ride.
COX, PALMER. (p. 45) *The Brownies: Their Book. Illustrated by the Author. Century.
1.50
Every child should know Mr. Cox's prankish, helpful Brownies. The verses are
accompanied by many delightful pictures.
HAZARD, BERTHA (Editor). Three Years with the Poets. Houghton. .50
While these selections are intended for memorization by children, and are arranged by
months for the school year, the collection is so good as to fill a useful place in the home
library. At the end of the book are a few pages of wisely chosen little selections of poetry
and prose, truly called Helps for the Day's Work.
OSTERTAG,