PARENTS' CHOICE

PAT JONES
Makes a new selection for children
A THRI I THOUSAND year old coffin was opened in Denmark. in it lay a beautiful, eighteen year old girl, preierved because she lay in a 'wet' grave.
Her golden hair was tied in a pony tail, and her woolly blouse and fringed skirt were also preserved by the tannic acid formed in the damp, carefully made grave. After a little while, the air dried her out, and she disappeared, leaving for us her blonde hair, ten manicured fingernails, and her little costume.
Other things were buried with her, from which scientists discovered and deduced much information, but it needed Harry Behn, author with the vision of a seer, to put it all together in a wonderful book called The Distant Lurs (Gollancz, 13s. 6d.). The 'Let' is a trumpet used to 'tame' the sun.
By contrast Talargain The Seal's Whelp by Joyce Gard, a story of St. Cuthbert's time and place, is almost contemporary. Again the author has successfully created another era, so successfully that the beginning and end of the book, both 1964, jar upon the reader. But this is a small price to pay for such a good tale. (Gollancz, 13s. 6d.).
Plague and fire make good settings for novels, and Rosemary Weir has returned to this shattering time in our history in The Star and The Flame (Faber. 15s.). and for Tom Wright, of London Bridge, there is never a dull moment.
Jasper's Jump by Anthea Beamish deserves a prize for originality. While father composes an opera for America, his offspring compose and produce their own around the mysterious leap off a precipice of Cavalier Sir Jasper, after sshich, although his jump was observed, no trace of him or a corpse was ever found.
The Deans and their friends the Bartholomews solve the mystery, and get a highly dramatic ending to their opera. (Nelson, 7s. 6d.).
Tom and the S.S. France by M. A. Baudouy (Bodley, 13s, 6d.) will keep the technically-minded boy of the family amused, and his younger brother will enjoy Grill and Tommy and the Golden Image by John Griffiths (Dent, 13s. 6d.). They might even exchange books at the end.
They would certainly both enjoy Balloon Journey by Rent Guillot (Collins, 13s. 6d.), a truly exciting book from France, and the small brother or sister can also go across the Channel with Belle Arahelle by M. and A. Marokvia (World's Work, 12s. 6d.).
It is my pleasure to be able to report something special for the little ones, by a writer well known to the CATHOLIC HERALD, Monica Comerford. It is her illustrated My Very First Story of Jesus (Darton, Longman & Todd, 5s.). It is deceptively simple, and very good. Parents reared on the 'A is for Apple' system will need time to adjust to the zany ways of Dr. Seuss's ABC, but as usual with the good doctor, there is method in his madness. (Collins, 8s. 6d.).
Still with the babies of the family. we are given the ultimate in simplicity with Dick Bruna's The King and The Egg, 5s. 6d. each from Methuen. The little king plays with building bricks, but is lonely until he finds a playmate. These colourful books will be enjoyed as soon as the child has progressed from rag-books.
Here I am, Lord, is the story of Abraham, and his relationship to the Promised Land and the coming of Our Lord. To cover four thousand years in 26 pages, even for younger readers, is no mean feat. By Hedi Bak, 5s., from Fowler Wright Books.
Edward Ardizzone not only illustrates children's books, but now writes them also, and the text has the same indefinable charm as the pictures. Diana and her Rhinoceros (Hadley, 12s. 6d.) is his latest.
If Drs. Finlay and Kildare have not banished a child's fears of the medical world, an 'I Can Read' book may help. It is called Doctors and Nurses, What Do They Do? (World's Work, 10s. 6d.).