of this column that not all children's books are expensive. Here, for instance, are some Puffin books, ranging from 3s. to 5s.
They include something for all ages, from a long novel of the far distant past such as The 22 Letters by Clive King to a space story of the future, Starsnan Jones by Robert A. Heinlein.
Michael Bond's Paddington at Large tells us about that bear's successful appearance on the TV quiz game Lucky for Some, and for even younger children Ponder and William by Barbara Softly introduces us to a small panda bear, a fashionable animal just at the moment. bland of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell is based on the true story of an Indian girl.
An exciting mystery story for children which has just come out is The Jago Secret by Ann Shead (Faber, 16s.). The Australian family Jago. touring Cornwall, try to trace the family home from which the original Jago set forth. When they do discover the farm of St. Fimbarrus, they find the atmosphere very sinister.
Vendetta perhaps is an unusual title for a child's book (Chatto & Windus, 16s.). The author, Josef Carl Grund, has lived in Corsica, and his story is of a small boy who is persecuted by his six companions. An old sculptor, Emillio, who knows what it is to suffer because of a vendetta, returns to Corsica to spend his last years, and with a charity and diplomacy, rescues Pietro from his unhappy position, and is equally welcoming and beneficial to the other six.
Child of the Silent Night by Edith Fisher Hunter is the story of Laura Bridgeman, the happy, active, intelligent little girl who could neither hear nor see (Macdonald, 12s. 6d.). Old Uncle Asa Tenney was her constant companion, bringing little birds for her to hold, letting her walk on the frozen brook in winter, throw pebbles into it in summer (she couldn't hear but could feel the splash) or dabble sticks in the pulling current. In spring she fed the lambs, in the evening nursed her little brother, or helped her mother lay the table.
Laura was the child before Helen Keller. Her formal education laid the foundation for the teaching of Helen, but before any of the education experts started on the task, the ground was prepared by Uncle Asa. He was the first link in a chain which has lengthened to help children the world over.
Children of the World by Leonard Carr is a book for little ones which gives them a colourful glimpse in word and picture into the kind of children who live in other countries of the world (Odhams, 12s. 6d.). The glimpse is necessarily brief, and each is an example of how much information can be conveyed in a little space.
So Small by Ann Rand and Feodor Rojankovsky tells of the smallest mouse of the litter, who nevertheless had the biggest ideas (World's Work, 12s. 6d.). Dick Bruna has published more of those dazzlingly bright books for the youngest--Pussy Nell, The Apple, The School, and The Sailor (Methuen, 6s. each).
From brightness to the darkness under the earth in About Caves by Terry Shannon (Muller, 9s. 6d.). This survey of caves of the world (both past and present) is for junior readers, The last, and smallest book, is in both English and French. More children in primary schools are now learning French, and the youngest will enjoy Thr Mischievous Cat (or Le Wain Chat) by D. and A. Trez (Faber, 9s. 6d.). The bad cat torments all the animals in the garden until he eventually meets another cat. Delighted with a friend of his own, he then plays properly and is no longer a pest.
PAT JONES