UI LL INOI SUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

PRODUCTION NOTE

University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign Library

Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007.

BULLETINc/f/e ̂ /u^^f^ SBcenk4

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LIBRARY * CHILDREN'S BOOK CENTER

Volume X November, 1956 Number 3

d/V~ eo eJde46

M Agle, Nan (Hayden) and Wilson, Ellen.3-5 Three Boys and a Train; illus. by

Marian Honigman. Scribner, 1956.116p. $2.25.

The triplets, Abercrombie, Benjamin andChristopher are off on another learning adven-ture. This time they start from Centervillewhere they live with their grandmother. Whilefooling around the local freight yard one day,they climb aboard a horse car, fall asleep andare well on their way to Baltimore before any-one finds them. Fortunately the horses in thecar belong to the president of the railroad,who meets the boys in Baltimore, entertainsthem in style, and sends them back to Center-ville in the cab of a diesel streamliner. Thestory has less to recommend it than the earlierbooks, since it gives approval to the dangerouspractice of playing around freight yards. Theinformation about trains is interesting, but toosuperficial to overcome the weaknesses in thestory.

R Allee, Veva Elwell. The Frozen Foods

3-4 Plant; Robert Fogata, photographer.Melmont, 1955. 23p. $1.50.

Brief text and full-page photographs trace theprocess by which fruits and vegetables arehandled at a frozen foods plant. Spinach is usedas a typical vegetable and strawberries as atypical fruit to show the step-by-step procedureof picking, cleaning, processing, freezing, label-ing and shipping. The text is written at a middlethird grade reading level, and could be read aloudto younger children.

Ad Baker, Nina (Brown). Big Catalogue; The5-7 Life of Aaron Montgomery Ward; illus.

by Alan Moyler. Harcourt, 1956. 115p.$2.75.

A semi-fictionalized biography of MontgomeryWard. The story picks up Ward's career at thetime his family moved to Niles, Michigan wherehis father hoped to open a general store. Throughthe succeeding years Ward is seen as a clerk ina store in St. Joseph, as a traveling salesman,and finally well launched into his own mail orderbusiness in Chicago. The picture of Ward and hisfriends, the Thornes, is wholly laudatory and asa result they never seem completely realistic.The book, otherwise, makes an interesting pic-ture of the period and of the growth of this oneaspect of American industry.

EXPLANATION OF CODE SYMBOLS USED WITH ANNOTATIONS

R RecommendedM Marginal book that is so slight in content or has so many weaknesses in style or format that it barely misses an

NR rating. The book should be given careful consideration before purchase.NR Not recommended.Ad For collections that need additional material on the subject.SpC Subject matter or treatment will tend to limit the book to specialized collections.SpR A book that will have appeal for the unusual reader only. Recommended for the special few who will read it.

BULLETIN of the Children's Book Center. Published by the University of Chicago Press for the University ofChicago Library, Children's Book Center. Mary K. Eakin, Librarian.

The book evaluations appearing in this BULLETIN are made with the advice and assistance of members of thefaculty of the Graduate Library School, the Department of Education, and the University Laboratory School.

Published monthly except August. Subscription price is $2.50 a year. Checks should be made payable to theUniversity of Chicago Press. Correspondence regarding the BULLETIN should be addressed to the University ofChicago Press, 5750 Ellis Avenue, Chicago 37, Illinois.

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NR Baller, Albert. Robbie, the Little Lost Rob-3-5 in; illus. by Ruth Bendel. Rand McNally,yrs. 1956. 18p. (An In-Action Book). $1.25.A toy book in which the interest comes morefrom the toy aspect of the format than from thequite contrived story. Each page is slit near thebottom so that when the cardboard robin, at-tached to an elastic band, is placed in the slitand released it will fly out, ready to be insertedon the next page. The final slit is near the topof the page and there the robin stays. The storytells of a baby robin that fell from its nest andof the efforts of a small child (identified as"you") to find a suitable resting place for it.Eventually the bird ends up back in its own nest.

SpC Beebe, Catherine. Saint Dominic and the6-8 Rosary; illus. by Robb Beebe. Farrar,

1956. 192p. (Vision Books). $1.95.A fictionalized biography of St. Dominic, founderof the Catholic order of Dominican priests andsisters. The book gives a moderately interestingpicture of some aspects of life in the latetwelfth, early thirteenth centuries. However,the writing is just average, and the excessivelytechnical terminology will be meaningless tomost non-Catholics.

M Beim, Jerrold. Too Many Sisters; illus.2-4 by Dick Dodge. Morrow, 1956. 48p.

$2.Mike, the only boy in a family with four girls,considered his sisters a menace to his fun andwell-being and avoided them as much as possible.When he and his friends built a club house, theyput up a "No Girls Allowed" sign and built asnow wall around the house to re-inforce thesign. However, when they found themselves out-numbered in a snowball fight, the help of thegirls was welcome, and even Mike came torealize that four sisters are not necessarily toomany. A very purposive story. The text is writtenat a middle third grade reading level, but isprinted in primer size type.

to be shunned as being dangerously close tobeing socialistic (which is implied as beingsynonymous with communistic). There is nodepth to the characterizations and the pictureof campus life is distorted and unrealistic.

M Bialk, Elisa. Tizz illus. by Dwight Mutch-3-5 ler. Childrens Press, 1955. 96p.

$2.50.Tracy Hill is an unhappy and lonely seven-year-old trying to adjust to a new school and home.Her parents and her older brother are quitesatisfied with their new country life, but Tracyis too shy and withdrawn to make friends easily.Grandma Hill understands Tracy's lonelinessand surprises the family by giving them a ponyAs Tracy and her brother learn to take responsi-bility for the pony, and the children in schooltake an interest in Tracy's pet, she begins towiden her horizons, to make friends and to havea good time. The incidents are believable, andthe plot has elements which will interest manyyoung girls. However, the conversations havevery little sparkle and the narrative writingis colorless. The illustrations and the formatare mediocre.

Ad Biemiller, Carl L. Starboy; illus. by4-6 Kathleen Voute. Holt, 1956. 158p.

$2.50.Johnny Jenks, hero of Magic Ball from Mars, isonce again host to visitors from outer space.This time Remo, the young son of Arcon (theman from space) has come to earth for a visitwith Johnny. The two boys have a fine time to-gether until government officials intervene andRemo returns home rather than submit to theimprisonment and tests they insist on. As inthe first book, the author has been successfulin capturing the reactions of a normal boy insuch a situation, although the adult charactersdo not come out so well. Mr. Applegate, a neigh-bor who plays an important part in the story, isespecially unbelievable. Otherwise the story willbe satisfactory for young science fiction fans.

NR Bialk, Elisa. Marty on the Campus. World,7-9 1956. 223p. $2.50. Ad Bleeker, Sonia. The Mission Indians ofContinuing the adventures of Marty Warren, the 4-6 California; illus. by Althea Karr. Mor-book takes her through her freshman year as a row, 1956. 142p. $2.25.student in the Medill School of Journalism at In much the same style of her earlier books,Northwestern University. The reader gets less the author tells of the early history, customsof Marty's classroom experiences than of her and beliefs of one of the tribes of Mission Indi-sorority activities, her dating and her work for ans of California. She gives some bits of in-the Express. Throughout the story, the author formation about all of the Mission Indians, butuses the characters and situations merely as concentrates on the Dieguefios who lived in thevehicles for her own beliefs which Include such vicinity of the mission of San Diego de Alcala.ideas as: except for the very unusual student the Through the experiences of Little Singer, thesorority is the only answer to happy campus life; reader sees the Indians as they lived before thecollege life is "sackcloth and ashes without a coming of the Spanish, and the effects on theirboy friend", and a student with liberal ideas is lives of the establishment of the missions. No

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attempt is made to gloss over the injusticessuffered by the Indians at the hands of the Span-ish soldiers and priests. There is much goodmaterial here but interest is more often ham-pered than enhanced by the semi-narrative stylein which it is presented.

NR Bloomfield, Howard. Last Cruise of the7-9 Nightwatch. Prentice-Hall, 1956.

2135p.(A odestar Book) $2.95.A somewhat misleading title, implying as it doesthat the Nightwatch never made another cruiseafter the one recorded here. Actually the storytells of a cruise from Long Island Sound toFlorida, by way of the Inland Waterway, madeby two boys, cousins, who were delivering theNightwatch to her new owner. The story has theusual run of adventures: storms, a near swamp-ing, rescue of a family from a burning boat, anattempted robbery and the reformation of therobber, as well as details about the handling ofsmall boats. The setting is interesting, but thewriting is too pedestrian to give the book muchreal value. DuBois' We Merrily Put to Sea(Doubleday, 1950) is a much better written storywith the same setting.

R Branley, Franklyn Mansfield. Experiments7-10 in the Principles of Space Travel; illus.

by Jeanyee Wong. Crowell, 1955. 119p.$2.

Well-written, graphic presentation of the scien-tific laws basic to the development of spacetravel. Consideration is given to rocket design,temperature control, power, and pressure inspace. The purpose of the book, to make a cleardistinction between scientific and fictional pos-sibilities in space travel, is successfully ful-filled through the illustrations and tables and theexperiments, which can be performed with verysimple equipment. The material should be ofinterest to the science fiction reader as well asto those wanting scientific information. The bookcould also be used for checking the scientificaccuracy of science fiction.

R Branley, Franklyn Mansfield and Vaughan,K-2 Eleanor K. Mickey' s Magnet; drawings

by Crockett Johnson. Crowell, 1956.48p. $2.50.

While carrying a box of pins to his mother,Mickey stumbles and spills them all on thefloor. He tries various methods of picking themup-none overly successful-before his fathercomes to the rescue with a small horseshoemagnet. The pins safely restored to their box,Mickey proceeds on to a simple lesson in thepowers of magnetism. A beginning science book,written at a first grade reading level, that shouldhave interest and appeal for young children.Crockett Johnson's illustrations add a welcome

note of humor without detracting from the in-formational nature of the contents.

NR Brink, Carol (Ryrie). Family Sabbatical;6-8 illus. by Susan Foster. Viking, 1956.

$3.The Ridgeways (of Family Grandstand) are inFrance for a six months sabbatical during whichtime Mr. Ridgeway plans to write a book. Aftera short stay in Cannes they move on to Paris,seeing the high spots of interest along the way.The author writes with the same zest that madethe first book such fun, but unfortunately shehas depended for humor in this book on situa-tions that typify all that is most objectionable toEuropeans in American tourist behavior. TheFrench characters are all stereotypes and areexaggerated for purposes of ridicule.

R Brown, Slater. Ethan Allen and the Green6 Mountain Boys; illus. by William

Moyers. Random House, 1956. 186p.(Landmark Books). $2.50.

A\simply written, perceptive account of theactivities of Ethan Allen while defending the"Grants" from the New York land speculatorsand during the Revolutionary War. The criticismsthat have been made of Allen and of some of hisactions are stated objectively, sometimes re-futed and sometimes shown as justifiable.Through it all Allen emerges as a vigorouscharacter, not always a wise leader, but a dedi-cated man whose basic motives were honestand worth while, and who was not afraid to fightagainst any odds for what he thought was right.Although lacking the literary quality of the Hol-brook, America's Ethan Allen (Houghton, 1949),this is a satisfactory biography and one thatshould have wide appeal.

Ad Bulla, Clyde Robert. White Sails to China;2-4 illus. by Robert G. Henneberger. Cro-

well, 1955. 84p. $2.50.Nat Holden, orphaned when his father died inChina, sails to Salem to live with two elderlyaunts. He does not feel comfortable in his newsurroundings, and plans to return as soon aspossible on a ship to China. Although youngBetsy Tate tries to be friendly with him, he fallsin with a tough older boy who plots to steal adiamond belonging to Nat's aunts. When Nat dis-covers this boy's dishonesty, he decides to staywith his aunts and work to pay for the loss ofthe jewel. Everything turns out happily whenhe learns that the diamond was sold much earl-ier, and that a glass bead was all that was stolen.Nat, with Betsy's encouragement, decides tostay and become a carpenter's apprentice. Theeasy reading level and attractive format helpto make this an adequate although undistinguishedbook for young readers.

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R Burman, Ben Lucien. Seven Stars for Cat-4-8 fish Bend; illus. by Alice Caddy. Funk

& Wagnalls, 1956. 133p. $2.75.Another story of the animals of Catfish Bend, onthe Mississippi River. This time Doc Raccoonis telling of the terrible year when the swampwas invaded by hunters. At first the animalstried moving to other territory but they couldnot find any place that was satisfactory. Finallythey banded together, declared war on the hunt-ers, and in a smashing climax freed the swampof its enemies. Told with the same humor ofcharacters and situations that made High Waterat Catfish Bend a favorite bit of modern animalfantasy. Best suited to reading aloud.

Ad Butterfield, Marguerite. Adventures of4-6 Esteban; illus. by Enrico Arno. Scrib-

ner, 1956. 121p. $2.50.A pleasant, rather slight, story of the islandof Majorca and of an eight-year-old boy wholives there in one of the inland villages. In anepisodic style the author tells of Esteban's ad-ventures with his pet goat, Nanina, and hisfriend, Fernando. As a mild bit of excitementEsteban finds some treasure that has littlemonetary value but is of interest to the localmuseum. Some of the episodes have touches ofhumor that could give the book appeal.

NR Butters, Dorothy Gilman. Girl in Buckskin.7-9 Macrae, 1956. 190p. $2.75.A story of the Mohawk Valley, Connecticut, in1703. Becky Pumroy's parents were killed andher older brother Eseck captured by the Indianswhen both children were quite young. At thetime of the story, Becky, a bound girl, is aboutto be married against her will to an elderly,mean-tempered widower. Eseck, returned aftermany years of living with the Indians of the north,is in constant trouble with the villagers becauseof his unconventional behavior. The two runaway and build a shack for themselves in theMohawk Valley near a friendly tribe of Mahicans.There Becky learns to cope with wilderness liv-ing so that she is able to manage even after Eseckdeserts her to return to the Indians. During anIndian uprising Becky saves the life of a NewHampshire farmer-turned-soldier who promptlyfalls in love with her and persuades her to returnto civilization with him. A facile, shallow plotbetter suited to a Class B movie than to teen-agefiction. The characters are typed and have neitherdepth nor reality.

R Cavanna, Betty. The Boy Next Door. Mor-7-9 row, 1956. 255p. $2.75.Jane Howard and Ken Sander son had lived nextdoor to each other most of their lives and by thetime they reached high school everyone auto-matically linked their names together. Jane was

content with their casual, brother-sister rela-tionship until one night when Ken attempted tokiss her and she rebuffed him, without reallyunderstanding why. In the days that followedJane went through a miserable period when shehad little confidence in herself and even less inher ability to attract boys. Matters were nothelped any when her younger and quite attrac-tive sister, Belinda, appropriated Ken for herown. Jane's groping struggles toward maturityare told with an understanding and appreciationof the growing pains of adolescents.

NR Chandler, Ruth Forbes. Too Many Prom-7-9 ises; illus. by Ray Scott Campbell.

Abelard-Schuman, 1956. 216p. $2.50.Niki Louganis was paroled to his school princi-pal after he was arrested with a gang who hadstolen and wrecked a car, and was given onelast chance to make good. He was sent to asmall'town to live with an elderly couple whoraised chinchillas and whose only son hadrecently died. Several times during the summerNiki came close to being sent home, but hemanaged to persuade Mr. Barnard of his goodintentions and by the end of the summer hadwon a permanent home with the Barnards. Atoo purposive book that has some good aspectsin Niki's difficulties in learning to keep hispromises and to think ahead rather than actingon impulse always, but that is weakened by thetyped characterizations and contrived situations.

R Chastain, Madye Lee. Emmy Keeps a6-8 Promise. Harcourt, 1956. 176p.

$2.75.Although not necessarily a sequel to DarkTreasure, this story involves some of the samecharacters and will have much the same appealof the earlier book. Eleven-year-old EmmyThatcher and her older sister, Arabel, orphans,come to New York City so that Arabel may takea teaching position at Miss Fenwick's Schoolfor Young Ladies. Lissa, young heroine of DarkTreasure, is a student at the school, and throughher friendship Arabel meets and falls in lovewith Lissa's Uncle Andy, the sea captain. Thereis no mystery to be solved this time, but theplot and characterizations have more realitythan in the earlier book. The story gives anespecially good picture of life in New York Cityin the 1850's.

R Conrad, Sybil. The Golden Summer; illus.6-8 by Mary Stevens. Holt, 1955. 220p.

$2.75.Terry, as only child, finds her most satisfyingcompanionships with her parents, especiallywith her father who encourages her to be activein sports. She has difficulty adjusting to the morefeminine role expected by her classmates at

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Junior High School; and she'usually turns up atclass functions self-conscious and ill-preparedto participate. She is bitter when her parentssurprise her with a Junior High graduationpresent of a summer at a girl's camp insteadof her privately desired fishing trip with herfather. However, she does go to camp, and thereshe learns to express her interest in sports inan acceptable way. She also learns to take aninterest in herself as a maturing young adoles-cent. Terry's growing-up is handled realistically,and, although the other characters are more orless superficially treated, this will be pleasantreading for pre-adolescent girls. Terry's parentsare well presented as individuals, sensible andsympathetic but prone to making some blundersas they help their child to become independent.

NR Coombs, Charles Ira. Young Ranch De-5-7 tective; illus. by Louis Priscilla.

Lantern, 1956. 189p. (Young HeroesLibrary). $2.50.

A search for uranium and a melodramatic run-inwith some cattle rustlers are combined in thispoorly written junior horse opera. Young NedBryant and Julie Nelson set out to find uraniumand thereby save their family ranches from theclutches of the local bank. They succeed, andeven bring about the capture of the rustlerswhose depravations have brought the ranches tothe rink of bankruptcy.

R \algliesh, Alice. The Columbus Story;K-5 pictures by Leo Politi. Scribner, 1955.

30p. $2.75.The story of Columbus told with simple dignityfor young readers or listeners. The bare factsof Columbus's early life and first voyage arepresented in brief text and colorful, distinctiveillustrations to give the child a first acquaintancewith the subject, without the introduction oflegendary materials that frequently lead to mis-understandings. The style is suitable for read-ing aloud to young children, and third gradereaders will be able to handle the text alone.

R -Iigliesh, Alice. The Fourth of July Story;3-7 \\ illus. by Marie Nonnast. Scribner, 1956.

"N 28p. $2.75.A third volume in the author's series of picture-story books from American history. This timeshe tells briefly and succinctly of the eventsthat led up to the decision of the colonies tobreak with England, of the actual writing of theDeclaration of Independence, and of its receptionby the people of the colonies. The text, writtenat an upper third grade reading level, is excel-lently suited to reading aloud at any age level.Nonast's colorful illustrations add greatly to theattractiveness and appeal of the book.

Ad Dean, Lucille Dennhardt. At the Dry Clean-1-4 ers; photographs by Glenn W. Schroeder.

Melmont, 1955. 2 4 p. $1.50.Brief text and photographs trace the processof dry cleaning from the time soiled clothesare picked up or brought to the dry cleaner of-fice, until the clean clothes are delivered. Eachprocess is clearly shown and described. Thetext is written at an upper fourth grade readinglevel, and would need to be read aloud to young-er children studying units on community helpers.

NR Disney, Walt. Goofy, Movie Star; by AnnieK-1 North Bedford; based on the Disney-

land Television Show; pictures by theWalt Disney Studio; adapted by SamuelArmstrong. Simon and Schuster, 1956.24p. (Mickey Mouse Club Books) 25'.

Goofy reverses the usual procedure and triesnot to become a movie star, but is forced intothe role by a talent scout. His success is attrib-uted to the fact that he does not try to be a starbut just has fun. A pointless story dependenton adult humor that will have little meaning forchildren.

R Engeman, Jack. Annapolis; The Life of a5- Midshipman. Lothrop, 1956. 152p.

$3.50.Excellent photographs and brief text show thelife of Annapolis students from Plebe Summerthrough graduation. There are scenes from lifein Bancroft Hall, the academic life, atheltics,recreation and extra-curricular activities, theMidshipman Practice Cruise, the Second Classaviation summer, and a group of typical Anna-polis men (identified by rank only). An interest-ing book for use in vocational guidance classesof just for browsing.

Ad Farrar, F. S. Arctic Assignment; The6-8 Story of the St. Roch; ed. by Barrett

Bonnezen; illus. by Vernon Mould.St. Martin's, 1955. 180p. (Great Storiesof Canada). $2.50.

A first hand account of the voyage in 1940-1942,of the RCMP schooner, St. Roch, from Vancouver,British Columbia, to Halifax by way of the North-west Passage. The voyage, which the captainhoped would be completed in 90 days, took overtwo years of grim struggle against storms, ice,and the cold of winter, and resulted in the deathof one of the crew members. The story is told bythe First Mate, in an awkward, often pedestrianstyle that somewhat dulls the appeal the subjectwould ordinarily have.

R Finney, Gertrude E. (Bridgeman). Is8-10 This My Love; decorations by Lili

Rethi. Longmans, 1956. 228p. $3.

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A story of Jamestown in 1621 and of the boat-load of girls who were imported to provide wivesfor the settlers and to give the colony addedstability. Two of the girls, Beatrice Whitcliffand Jennifer Abbot, had been more gently rearedthan the others and found it more difficult to ad-just to the rough, often crude, ways of the colony.Jennifer was soon married to Beatrice's brother,Matthew, who had come to the colony severalyears earlier, but Beatrice had a harder timedeciding. The story is primarily of Beatrice'sadjustment to the new life, and it gives a vividpicture of the hardships of pioneer life as wellas of the spirit that kept the people in the colonyin spite of those hardships.

Ad Garst, Doris Shannon. Dick Wootton: Trail7-9 Blazer of Raton Pass. Messner, 1956.

192p. $2.75.A readable, quite fictionalized biography ofRichens Wootton, one of the mountain men ofthe mid- and late-nineteenth century. Woottonworked for Bent-St. Vrain, did independent trap-ping, and mapped a part of the trail that waslater to be used by the Sante Fe railroad. Theaccount is too laudatory to seem completelyrealistic as biography but it makes a good storyof the period. A bibliography at the end suggestsother books on the same period.

R Goudey, Alice E. Here Come the Elephants2-4 illus. by Garry MacKenzie. Scrtbner,

1955. 93p. $2.25.In an easy-to-read style similar to her HereCome the Deer and Here Come the Lions, theauthor has presented the life and growth of theAfrican elephant and the training for work ofthe Indian elephant. Interesting information issuccessfully woven into the story, which can beread by third and fourth grade readers. The ap-pealing illustrations are excellent, especiallyas they complement the dramatic incidents inthe text.

NR Gullahorn, Genevieve. Zigger, the Pet3-5 Chameleon; illus. by George F. Mason.

Abelard-Schuman, 1956. 61p. $2.50.Jan and Eddie, at the circus with their mother,become intrigued with the chameleons that arebeing sold as lapel ornaments. Eddie persuadeshis mother to buy one, takes it home and makesa pet of it. The following year he saves hispennies to buy it a mate, which fortunately turnsout to be the right sex. Considerable informationabout chameleons is woven into the story, whichotherwise is labored and marred by exceedinglyunattractive illustrations.

Ad Harris, Louise Dyer and Norman Dyer.3-5 Hummer and Buzz; with illus. by Robert

Candy. Little, 1956. 55p. $2.50.

The largest bee (queen bumblebee) in themeadow and the smallest bird (ruby-throatedhummingbird) are each described in detail,with their individual ways of obtaining food,building nests, reproducing young, and facingthe problems of weather through each season.Since both animals occupy the same meadowduring a large part of the year, their paths oc-casionally cross, and in one instance the hum-mingbird inadvertently saves thelife of thebumblebee. The animals are somewhat personi-fied and the writing suffers from an over-en-thusiastic tone, but neither weakness is greatenough to seriously affect the value of the bookas nature study material. The colorful illus-trations give added appeal to the book as wellas pointing up some of the descriptive informa-tion given in the text.

NR Hartwell, Nancy. Senorita Okay; illus.7-9 Genia. Holt, 1956. 224p. $2.75.Patricia O'Kane, a high school art student, isleft a legacy by a former art teacher, with thestipulation that the money must be used for ayear of study at the art school in San Miguel,Mexico. Patricia has never been far from thesmall midwestern town where she lives and isshy about embarking on the venture. However,when she reaches San Miguel she finds herselfmaking friends and adjusting to the new lifewith great ease. In fact her adjustment is toocomplete and too easily made to seem realisticin terms of the description given of her at thebeginning of the story. Added to the account ofher adventures in art and friendship, there isa highly contrived mystery that does nothing toforward the main story theme and serves onlyto cheapen the story.

Ad Helm, Ruth H. Wonderful Good Neighbors;6-8 pictures by Kiehl and Christian News-

wanger. Lippincott, 1956. 185p.$2.75.

Twelve-year-old Emmanuel Tremaine was up-set by the abrupt change in his life when hismother married John Sinn and moved from theirChicago home to a farm in Pennsylvania. Man-ny's own father had died a few weeks beforeManny was born, and the boy was accustomedto being the center of his mother's and gi 'and-parents' attention. Now he not only had to adjustto the idea of sharing his mother, but he alsofound himself in a strange environment sincethe Sinn farm was in the middle of an Amishsettlement. Manny's adjustment, to his familyand his neighbors, makes a pleasing story, al-though not quite as perceptive a picture of thetwo cultures as that found in Sorensen's PlainGirl (Harcourt, 1955).

Ad Helmericks, Harmon. Arctic BushPilot;

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7-9 illus. with photographs by the author.Little, 1956. 180p. $3.

Bob Hamilton, of Oolak's Brother and ArcticHunter, is now a newly licensed pilot, readyto begin a career as a bush pilot. He starts byferrying a new Cessna plane from the States,where he has been attending school, to Barrow,Alaska, where his parents live and where he plansto join the plane's owner, Andy Willington, aveteran bush pilot. The account of the work doneby the two pilots makes interesting reading;much of the material is based on actual fact andthere is considerable useful information aboutthe country and the work of bush pilots. Unfortu-nately the very pedestrian style, wooden dialogand feeble attempt at a story detract from theeffectiveness of the information.

NR Hogner, Nils. Sad Eye, the Clown; A Circus3-5 Story. Abelard-Schuman, 1956. 41p.

$2.50.A slight, only mildly suspenseful, story of aclown whose act is ruined when his pet goosehurts its foot. The clown runs away with thegoose and tries to hide in a farmer's field, buta playful horse forces him out of his hiding placeand shows him a new trick that saves his act.The rather garish illustrations add little to theappeal of the story.

Ad Honness, Elizabeth (Hoffman). Mystery4-6 of the Auction Trunk; illus. by Dorothy

Bayley Morse. Lippincott, 1956. 191p.$2.50.

A mystery story based on a real incident. TheHolland family, having recently bought a re-modeled summer home in New Hampshire, soonfound themselves in the middle of a search forsome lost paintings that had been made by aformer owner of the house. The artist, a primi-tive whose work had been unappreciated in hisown day, was known to have hidden some of hispaintings in the house, but no one had ever beenable to find them. The story of the children'ssuccessful hunt for the paintings makes fairlyexciting reading and is quite believable. Thevillain of the affair is entirely too predictableto be realistic and even detracts from the sus-pense.

R Household, Geoffrey. The Exploits of7-9 Xenophon; illus. by Leonard Everett

Fisher. Random House, 1955. 180p. (AWorld Landmark Book) $1.50.

Xenophon' s Anabasis, shortened and put into thefirst person singular and modern terminology.The account tells of the defeat of the GreekMercenary Army by the Persians and of their1,000 mile march back home through enemy ter-ritory. The vivid descriptions of battles andcampaigns will give the book appeal.

NR Ivens, Dorothy. The Long Hike. Viking,3-5 1956. 39p. $2.Dorothy, her parents, and her cousin Bill,spent every summer at their country cottage,which was a pleasant place to live but was along way from water where the children couldswim. One day the two children started outon foot to meet their older cousin, Bob, at theriver and go for a swim. With numerous sideexcursions along the way, interspersed withstops to eat part of their lunch, they finallyarrived at the river with very little lunch left toshare with Bob. He would not let them go swim-ming for an hour because they had just eaten,and by the time they could go in it was time toreturn home. A rather pointless story, illus-trated with crude pictures intended to repre-sent children's art work.

R Kapp, Paul. A Cat Came Fiddling, andK-3 Other Rhymes of Childhood; illus.

by Irene Haas. Harcourt, 1956. 80p.$3.

A collection of 57 songs, most of them basedon traditional English and American nurseryrhymes. Many of the rhymes are familiar ones,some are seldom found in other collections. Allbut seven of the rhymes are found in Opie, TheOxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes; nineof the rhymes are included in the Bertail, Com-plete Nursery Song Book. The music, composedby Mr. Kapp, is exceptionally well-done, easyto sing and play, capturing a true folk-songquality. The book is gaily illustrated with smallblack-and-white drawings that add verve andhumor. It will make a nice gift book for familyuse as well as an attractive addition to libraryand school collections of songs.

R Kettelkamp, Larry. The Magic of Sound.4-6 Morrow, 1956. 64p. $2.A brief, fairly simple explanation of what soundis; how sounds are produced by a variety of in-struments; how sounds are captured and trans-mitted; echoes and "silent" sounds, and howartificial sound effects are achieved. The textis supplemented by detailed drawings, many ofthem diagrams illustrating simple experimentswith sounds. The text is not quite as easy asthe large type would seem to indicate.

R Kielty, Bernardine. Marie Antoinette: illus.7r9 by Douglas Gorsline. Random House,

1955. 184p. (A World Landmark Book)$1.50.

very readable biography of Marie Antoinettethat presents her with all her weaknesses andcharm. Her failures as a ruler are explainedin terms of the forces and events in her earlylife that brought her to a position of power with-out adequate preparation for the responsibilities

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involved, but no attempt is made to justify orexcuse her actions. The French Revolution isgiven rather superficial treatment, with the em-phasis on activities that directly affected theroyal family. Not a profound biography, but ade-quate as an introduction to the character andpersonality of Marie Antoinette.

R Kjelgaard, James Arthur. Desert Dog.6-8 Holiday House, 1956. 200p. $2.75.Tawny, a greyhound pup being trained for racing,runs away after the death of his handler, FredHaver, the only man he had ever liked, and goesto the desert where he had last seen Haver alive.In the desert he is forced to fight for existenceand to use all of his wits to cope with the ene-mies there-thirst, heat, coyotes, rattlesnakes,wild dog packs, etc. He learns quickly andmanages to keep himself and Sable,a collie puphe adopts after its owners have abandoned it,alive through an unusually hot, dry summer.The story of Tawny's experiences and of hisfinal meeting with another man to whom he cangive full allegiance is told with Kjelgaard'susual vivid, forceful style that gives freshnessand appeal to a time-honored plot.

Ad Kohler, Julilly House. "The Sun Shines4-6 Bright"; illus. by Lee Ames. Crowell,

1956. 208p. $2.75.Continuing the story of twelve-year-old MaryElizabeth Morgan ("Crazy As You Look"'),the author once again presents a somewhatnostalgic picture of life in a Kentucky bordertown in the early twentieth century. The storybegins the day after Star's wedding and, in anepisodic style, takes Mary Elizabeth and herfamily through a summer's adventures andactivities. These begin when Mary Elizabethsticks a needle in her foot and is immobilizedfor two weeks, through a visit to relatives inTennessee, and climaxing with a run-in witha ne'er-do-well family who have recentlymoved to Mayville. The story has many of thesame elements of appeal as the earlier book,although the episodes dealing with the unsavoryDr. Newman seem overdrawn and bordering onthe melodramatic.

R Komroff, Manuel. Mozart; decorations by6-12 Warren Chappell. Knopf, 1956. 177p.

$3.A warmly sympathetic biography of Mozart thatbrings him alive as a person, presents a vividpicture of his brief and difficult life, and showsan appreciative understanding of the quality ofhis genius and its influence on the history ofmusic. Told with dignity and a simplicity ofstyle that makes easy reading and, at the sametime, with depth and perception enough to ap-peal to a wide range of readers. Illustrated with

photographs and with decorative drawings thatgive added interest to the text.

NR Kramer, Bettina Leonard. Cave Men2-4 of the Old Stone Age; illus. by Harold

V. Kramer. Melmont, 1955. 36p.$1.85.

An over-view of the Old Stone Age, from 100,000to 16,000 B.C. The full-page pictures and brieftext deal with the people, homes, animals andhunting, weapons and tools, fire, food, clothing,arts and crafts, and migrations. The materialhas some interest, although the author tendsto make definite statements as if she werequoting facts instead of theories. The text iswritten at a beginning third grade readinglevel, but the extremely heavy black typegives the book a primerish look, and the ar-rangement of text on the page is unattractiveand frequently confusing.

R Ladd, Elizabeth Crosgrove. The Night4-6 of the Hurricane; illus. by Mary

Stevens. Morrow, 1956. 19 1p. $2.50.Continues the adventures of Judy (EnchantedIsland) in her new home with her aunt and uncleon the coast of Maine. The adventures beginwith the night of the hurricane, in September,and end at Christmas time, with the unhappi-ness of Uncle Walter's illness counterbalancedby the pleasure that Judy feels in being able togive her aunt the set of dishes she has wantedfor a long time. The simple, episodic stylemakes easy reading, and the activities of Judyand her friend, David, will appeal to younggirls.

R Lake, Stuart N. The Life and Times of8-10 Wyatt Earp; illus. by John McCormack.

Houghton, 1956. 2 71p. $2.50.A shortened version of the author's adult bi-ography, Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal. Theauthor obtained much of his material frompersonal interviews with Earp, andhe usesEarp's own words in many instances, whichgives the account a ring of authenticity. Awell-written biography that should have wideappeal. Somewhat more difficult reading thanthe Hall-Quest, Wyatt Earp: Marshal of theOld West (Ariel, 1956).

NR Lambert, Janet. Love Taps Gently. Dut-7-9 ton, 1955. 191p. $2.75.Another story of the Jordan-Parrish-Draytonfamilies. This time the problems revolvearound young Bitsy Jordan, back home fromEngland and making everyone around her miser-able with her selfishness, and Gwenn JordanHanley who is having financial troubles in Hol-lywood and comes home to stage a nervousbreakdown. As usual Susan Jordan is the om-

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.iscient teen-ager who understands everyone'sproblems and knows just what to do under allcircumstances. Superficial, excessively senti-mental and wholly unrealistic in plot and charac-terizations.

Ad Lawrence, Mildred. Indigo Magic; illus.6-8 by Oscar Liebman. Harcourt, 1956.

184p. $2.95.Twelve-year-old Susanna Fenton and her fathermoved from Philadelphia to East Florida whereMr. Fenton, a botanist, had been offered a grantof land in exchange for the botanical informationhe was to gather and send to Lord Carothers inEngland. It was Mr. Fenton's plan to use hisgrant for growing indigo, a new and prosperousbusiness in that section of Florida in 1767.Susanna planned to help her father by makingsketches of the plants and animals that he thoughtworth recording. The story of their first year,with its encounters with the Indians, somepleasant and others less so; with the trials ofraising and processing the indigo plants, andwith Susanna's own private efforts to earnenough money to buy the freedom of BethanyLane, a bound girl living on the next plantation,makes pleasant reading as a piece of periodfiction. Susanna seems much too knowledgeableand accomplished for her twelve years, and themanner in which she acquires the money to buyBethany's freedom does not ring true. The chiefvalue of the book will be for its picture of Flori-da at this period in its settlement.

NR Lazo, Hector. On the Trail of Inca Gold.7-9 Prentice-Hall, 1956. 212p. $2.95.A melodramatic, improbable story of archeo-logical research in the mountains of Peru. DickCollins, son of the American Ambassador toPeru, starts out with four companions to seek thelost Inca road. Beyond Cuzco he falls into a nar-row tunnel opening which is immediately blockedby a huge stone. Injured, but afraid that the stonemay fall further and crush him, he makes a pain-ful way along a winding passageway until hefinally faints from fright and exhaustion. He isrescued by a lost tribe of Incas who insist thaathe must remain with them. Several months latera member of the tribe helps him to escape, afterhe has promised not to reveal the secret of thetribe's stronghold. Dick is a far from admirablecharacter, especially in his relationships withhis parents, and the story is further weakenedby poor writing.

M Lindsay, Barbara. Fun at My House; illus.3-4 by Jane Brookhard March. Aladdin,yrs. 1955. 42p. $2.Joe pretends all kinds of adventures as he playson the footstool in the living room. The footstoolfinally collapses under the pressure of being a

bucking bronco, a fisherman's boat, a railroadstation ticket office, a school bus, and othersuch imaginary vehicles. Joe is heart-brokenuntil his father agrees to fix the footstool andit can once again serve its playtime role. Arather long story for reading aloud, and veryyoung children would find the combination ofrealism and fantasy in the illustrations con-fusing.

M Longstreth, Thomas Morris. Doorway in7-9 the Dark. Macmillan, 1956. 190p.

$2.75.Rather heavily melodramatic story of the East-West conflict in Berlin and of the events lead-ing up to the founding of the Free Universityof West Berlin. The story involves young ErnstWestback, a German college student who istorn between family loyalty and his own yearn-ings for real freedom. Through the friendshipof Jed Gateson, an American living in the WestSector, Ernst escapes to West Berlin where heis able to help his family and at the same timeparticipate in the planning for the Free Uni-versity of West Berlin. The characters aretoo typed and one-dimensional to ever comefully alive.

R McClung, Robert M. Green Darner; The1-5 Story of a Dragonfly; illus. by the

author. Morrow, 1956. 48p. $2.Using the same pattern as his earlier books,the author describes in detail the life cycleof the dragonfly, together with less detailedinformation about the other animals and insectsoccupying the same pond where the dragonflylives. The style and content are interestingand the book could be used for reading aloudto primary grade children. The difficulty level(middle fourth grade) is much higher than theprimer-sized type would seem to indicate. Theexcellent drawings, in black and white and color,give the book added appeal and usefulness.

Ad MacKaye, David Loring. The Great Scoop.7-9 Nelson, 1956. 192p. 2.75.Sixteen-year-old Jon Olson left his farm homein North Dakota to go to Bismarck where hehoped to have a part in the exciting events con-nected with the opening of western lands to set-tlement. On the way he met Colonel Lounsberry,owner of the Bismarck Tribune, and was offereda job on the newspaper. Although the work wasnot as exciting or glamorous as Jon had antici-pated, he soon came to realize that the news-paper was, in its own way, a major force inshaping the new country. His experiences areclimaxed the day that news comes in of Custer'sdefeat at Big Little Horn, a battle in which one ofof Jon's best friends is killed. The setting isinteresting, but the story never quite rings true.

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For the most part the characters remain card-board figures, and the discussions of the issuesof the day tend to be fuzzy and with little depth.The story has good pace and some suspense togive it interest.

NR Mellin, Jeanne. Pidgy's Surprise. Dutton,4-6 1955. 124p. $2.50.Eight-year-old Cindy Sawyer is dissatisfied withher Shetland pony, Pidgy, and dreams of owninga spirited thoroughbred horse. To make hermore satisfied with what she has, her parentssecretly have Pidgy bred. When the time comesfor the foal to be born Pidgy is spirited awayto another farm. Cindy is heartbroken, thinkingthat Pidgy has been lost, and she can neither eatnor sleep for two days until she is finally takento see the new foal. Her parents feel justified inthis quite drastic treatment when Cindy decidesthat she does like Pidgy after all. The book haslittle to offer as a horse story that is originaland the parents' actions seem far more severethan the situation warranted.

Ad Moore, Lilian. Wobbly Wheels; pictures1-2 by Beth Krush. Abingdon, 1956. 4 8p.

$1.50.Slight story of two children who pool their knowl-edge to help each other. Jenny has a new bike,but does not know how to balance on it. Pete, aneighbor, has new skates which are equally un-manageable. Jenny, an accomplished skater,teaches Pete and he, in turn, initiates her intothe mysteries of bike-balancing. By the end ofthe day each has learned to control his "wobblywheels". There is not muchplot, but the text canbe handled by second grade readers and will beuseful for supplementing the regular textbooks.

NR Myers, Madeleine N. Touch the Harvest7-9 Moon; illus. by Michael Mitchell. Holt,

1955. 256p. $2.75.The sudden death of her father caused twenty-year-old Lydia Wayne to reassess her plans fora year's study in Europe where she hoped togather material for a Master's thesis on masks.Her fifteen-year-old brother, Rod, had no en-thusiasm for the idea of Europe, and theirguardian Chad Donney, tried further to dissuadethem from going. At first Lydia struggled to beallowed to continue with her plans, but sheeventually gave in, decided to concentrate onAmerican rather than European masks, and be-gan looking for ways to turn her interest topractical use. Lydia has two romances, one witha young medical student whom she has knownmost of her life and the other with her guardian'sassistant whom she meets for the first timeafter her father's death. The first proves just apleasant friendship; the latter develops to thepoint of a proposal and acceptance. A shallow

story in which the motivations, especially theattempts to persuade Lydia to give up her thesisplans, are never made clear and the charactersare all mere outlines, with no substance.

M Mygatt, Emmie D. Prisoner in the Circle;7-9 decorations by Brummett Eshohawk.

Longmans, 1956. 209p. $2.75.Ken McKeever, a guest on his uncle's ranchnear Sheridan, Wyoming, is interested in theCheyenne Indians on the nearby reservation.His uncle is strongly prejudiced against theIndians and does not want Ken to have anythingto do with them. Ken wanders into the reserva-tion one day, makes friends with an Indian boy,and moves in with the Indian agent and his wife.Later Ken and Roy Whitebird leave the reserva-tion to find work on nearby rahches. ThroughKen's guidance Roy gains enough confidence todecide to leave the reservation and learn to livein a white society. A forest fire that threatensKen's uncle's ranch serves to re-unite the twoand breaks down the uncle's prejudice. In spiteof the worth while purpose of the book, it hasmany weaknesses. Ken's rudeness toward hisuncle is not justified by the fact of their disagree-ment over the Indians; the ending is too melo-dramatic to be wholly realistic; and the author tosome extent defeats her own purpose by her fre-quent references to the Indians as "bucks" and"squaws", terms that are resented by mostmodern Indians.

M Pallas, Norvin. The Star Reporter Mystery.7-9 Washburn, 1955. 177p. $2.75.Ronald and Ted Wilford, heroes of two earliermysteries, are once again playing the part ofnewspaper sleuths. Ronald, a young reporteron the Cleveland Star, is assigned the task offinding out what happened to Barry Knight, aprominent reporter who disappeared duringthe Christmas holidays. Ronald brings hisyoung brother Ted in on the case and togetherthey trace Barry to a winter sports camp wherehe reveals the mystery of his past, which in-cludes an act of juvenile delinquency for whichhis father has borne the brunt of punishment.As in the earlier books, the solution is depend-ent on fortuituous circumstances.

NR Pease, Josephine van Dolzen. The Children3-5 That Lived in a Shoe; illus. by Eliza-yrs. beth Webbe. Rand McNally, 1955.

2 8p. (A Giant Book) $1.An expansion of the well-known Mother Gooserhyme, with the ending changed to make allsweetness and light. The verse is quite medi-ocre and the illustrations are without artisticmerit.

R Picard, Barbara Leonie. Ransom for a

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8-10 Knight; illus. by C. Walter Hodges.Oxford, 1956. 314p. $3.25.

Young Alys de Renneville would not give uphope that her father and brother had somehowsurvived the disastrous battle of Bannockburn,even though there had been no word of themsince the battle. When a wounded knight broughtword that both father and son were being heldransom at the castle of Angus MacAngus, Alysdetermined to get the ransom money to themeven if it meant taking it herself. She persuadedfourteen-year-old Hugh, a servant who had grownup with her brother, to accompany her on thejourney after her relatives had all refused tobelieve that there was anything to the knight'sstory. Alys and Hugh's adventures in travelingfrom southern England to Scotland make absorb-ing reading, and if coincidence occasionally stepsin to help the travelers, it is at least convincingcoincidence, and the result is entertaining his-torical fiction for the discriminating reader.

NR Price, Olive M. The Blue Harbor. Wash-7-9 burn, 1956. 176p. $2.75.Sandy Burroughs came to Provincetown for hersummer vacation secure in her knowledge ofthe career she wanted to follow, and in her aware-ness of her own beauty and its effect on any boywho might come her way. Her confidence wasseverely shaken when she came up against Den-nis Gaines, a student at the Oceanographic Insti-tute in Woods Hole, who plainly showed his im-perviousness to her charms. Throwing aside allthought of the work she had planned for the sum-mer, she set forth in pursuit of Dennis, and bythe end of the summer had snared him. A shal-low, superficial story with nothing of substancein plot or characterizations to offer readers.

M Reynolds, Dorothy, The Sons of the Smiling6-8 Tiger; illus. by M. J. Davis. Steck,

1955. 202p. $2.A story of the Quiche Indians, living in what isnow Guatemala, at the time of the first Spanishconquests. The story, told through the experi-ences of young Cay Bats, pictures the everydaylife of the village people, with their festivalsand their superstitions as well as the ordinaryactivities connected with acquiring food, trading,etc. The material is interesting, but the slow paceand pedestrian style will keep the book fromhaving much appeal.

M Rosenquist, Ruth Fingal. Nipper Shiffer's3-5 ' Donkey; pictures by Marvin Bileck.

Harper, 1955. 142p. $2.50.Nipper Shiffer, an orphan, dislikes the over-protective ways of the aunt with whom he lives,but there is nothing he can do about it until his

and decides to take Nipper to live with him. Onthe way to Uncle Petronius' country home, theybuy a donkey as a pet for Nipper. The donkeycauses considerable trouble but finally proves itsworth by forwarding the romance between UnclePetronius and Elsie Muller who lives on a near-by farm. There is some humor to the story, butfor the most part it is quite adult and too pre-cious to have much to offer young children.

R Rowand, Phyllis. George. Little, 1956.K-3 4 2p. $2.50.George is a large, shaggy dog who adopts afamily without so much as an invitation fromany of them. His exuberance frequently causestrouble and each member of the family has anoccasion to wish he would leave. However, whenhe does disappear one day, everyone is upsetand distraught until he finally reappears. Thenthey all tell him they love him and want him tostay-which is no news to George since he hasknown all along that they really love him butare just too busy to realize it. A somewhatsophisticated story, but with enough child ap-peal to make it fun for reading aloud.

R Shipton, Eric. Men Against Everest.7-12 Prentice-Hall, 1956. 161p. $2.75.Writing from his own experience, the authordescribes the many unsuccessful attempts toclimb Everest, climaxed by the final successfulassault in 1953. Stressing the importance ofnew developments in the manufacture of equip-ment for mountain climbing, he shows how theearly attempts were often failures from the be-ginning because of inadequate equipment, andhow success, when it came, was the result ofperfect team work plus the use of modernmaterials. The dangers and excitement of theattempts are heightened by the author's adeptuse of understatement. Readers who have en-joyed Hunt's Conquest of Everest (Dutton, 1953)or Tenzing Norgay's Tiger of the Snows (Put-nam, 1955) will find this an equally enjoyableaccount.

NR Smith, Nancy Woollcott. The Riddle of4-6 Split Rock; illus. by Valke Low. Coward-

McCann, 1955. 185p. $2.50.A college professor's family living in the mid-west are surprised to learn that a very wealthycousin has willed them an old shack and someproperty on the New England coast. They wouldhave preferred to have some money to boosttheir low financial status, and so, they spend asummer vacation on the property with the inten-tion of selling it as quickly as possible. Thethirteen-year-old twins are soon captivated byocean swimming and boating and shell fishing,

bachelor uncle, Petronius, appears on the scene and when a mystery about the disappearance of

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one of the boundaries of the property develops,they are quite reluctant to see the summer end.The mystery is solved, the professor is advancedmoney on the book which he is writing, and thefamily is happy to be able to keep the propertyfor summer vacations. The somewhat interest-ing background is not noteworthy enough to makethis a good story. The plot is very slight, andthe characterizations are superficial.

R Sutherland, Louis. Magic Bullets; The6-10 Story of Man's Valiant Struggle Against

Enemy Microbes; illus. by Harper John-son. Little, 1956. 148p. $3.

An absorbing account of man's efforts to under-stand and control the microbes that cause di-sease. The history of the development of micro-scopes and the discovery of microbes is present-ed succinctly, but with full appreciation of thedrama behind each development and discovery.Some of the material contained here is alsofound in the Schatz and Riedman, The Story ofMicrobes (Harper, 1952) and the Selsam, Mic-robes at Work (Morrow, 1953), but the empha-sis on the diseases caused by microbes and thecures and controls that have been found forthose diseases is not treated so fully in any ofthe other titles. Harper Johnson's excellentdrawings enhance the appeal and value of thebook.

R Trease, Geoffrey. Black Banner Abroad.7-9 Warne, 1955. 209p. $2.A third story of the Black Banner Players, anEnglish Amateur drama group composed ofhigh school students. This time the Players andtheir faculty sponsors have gone to Provence,France, as the guests of the students in Rivacellesto put on a performance of "Romeo and Juliet".As a slight mystery, four of the English childrenhave been asked to try to find a French woman,living in Provence, who aided a neighbor oftheirs during the early days of World War II. Inhis usual adept style, the author has succeededin giving the reader a vivid picture of travel inFrance and of home life in a French villagewithout once losing sight of the fact that he istelling a story. As a result the characters andthe countryside come alive for the reader.

R Trease, Geoffrey. Message to Hadrian;

7-9 An Adventure Story of Ancient Rome.Vanguard, 1956. 256p. $3.

Britain and Rome at the beginning of Hadrian'sreign serve as focal points for this fast-paced,smoothly written adventure story. Told in thefirst person, it recounts the adventures of Paul,a young Roman citizen, as he travels fromBritain to Rome with a message designed to freethe poet Severus from an unjust exile. The storyis replete with hairbreadth escapes, and thecharacterizations are submerged in favor ofpace and action. It is, nonetheless, good adven-ture fare with enough of an historical backgroundto give it added interest.

Ad Weaver, Stella. The Stranger; illus. by7-9 Genevieve Vaughan-Jackson. Pantheon

Books, 1956. 252p. $2.75.A story, set in modern Ireland, of a young boy'sefforts to reclaim the old family home of Don-arink. Young Edmund knew nothing about hisestate, not even that there was such a thing,until one summer when he and his sister Emilywere visiting their Aunt Lucy who lived in thevillage near Donarink. Once Edmund learned ofthe estate, he set forth to find ways of restor-ing it to its former productivity. In this he wasaided by the local families and by the Stranger,a mysterious figure who had appeared in times ofcrisis to give help to each succeeding genera-tion of Edmund's ancestors. The story gives areal feeling for the Irish countryside and theIrish people, and the element of the supernatural,in the Stranger, is well-handled. It is unfortunatelymarredby the exceedingly negative attitude of allof the characters toward law enforcement offi-cers, but otherwise makes good reading.

M Wilson, Ellen. Ernie Pyle, Boy from Back4-6 Home; illus. by Paul Laune. Bobbs-

Merrill, 1955. 192p. (Childhood ofFamous Americans Series). $1.75.

The usual patterned biography of the earlyyouth of a famous man, which attempts to showthe characteristics of his youth that were laterto make him famous. The quality of Pyle'spersonality that made him a well-loved newspapercolumnist was elusive even when he was livingand writing, and it has not been caught here ina way that will have meaning for children to whomhe will be no more than a name, if that much.