A Mothers List of Books for Children | Page 7

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 arch?ological 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, BLANCHE (Editor and Illustrator). Old Songs for Young America. Music arranged by Clarence Forsyth. Doubleday. 2.00
The familiar songs, set to the music of the old tunes, and charmingly illustrated,--the costumes those of olden days. Some of the pictures are in color and some in black and white. The Monkey's Wedding, Bobby Shafto, and Old Dan Tucker, are included in the contents.
OUR CHILDREN'S SONGS. Harper. 1.25
This carefully chosen collection--in which American poets are well represented--although made over thirty years ago, still holds its (p. 46) own as a standard. One of the divisions is devoted to hymns.
TAYLOR, JANE and ANN. Little Ann, and Other Poems. Illustrated by Kate Greenaway. Warne. 1.00
It is a good thing for children to learn from these quaint verses, with their charming illustrations, the sort of reading which pleased the small folks of long ago. The Taylors seldom struck so happy a vein as in the poem called The Field Daisy, which begins:
"I'm a pretty little thing, Always coming with the Spring; In the meadows green I'm found, Peeping just above the ground, And my stalk is covered flat With a white and yellow hat."
I prefer the little girls and boys ... that come as you call them, fair or dark, in green ribbons or blue. I like making cowslip fields grow and apple-trees bloom at a moment's notice. That is what it is, you see, to have gone through life with an enchanted land ever