The Small Library/Chapter 2

by James Duff Brown

 

CHAPTER II

CHILDREN'S HOME LIBRARIES

The most elementary form of small library is that which belongs to the Baby who, as yet, has not acquired the art of reading. He or she—it matters little how they are named, as both are clad alike in petticoats and bibs—prefers the pictorial tale of love or glory, or treatise on natural history, or handbook to the labyrinth of the alphabet. Parents, as a rule, exercise very little care in the selection of the first toy-books for their children, if, indeed, they purchase any at all, and both children and parents are equally indifferent to the fate of the books during their brief and tumultuous existence. These are both fundamental mistakes in the training of the young. It is not only important that the most artistic and amusing picture-books should be chosen, but that some means should be taken to preserve the books from wanton destruction. It is bad enough to see a common, garish, and inartistic book being used to wipe the floor or thrash the fender, but it is positively criminal to allow the works of Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway—to name no others—to be used in this cruel manner by youngsters who have not been taught to discriminate. In buying books for young children, therefore, care should be taken to select only those which have high artistic value, or which give accurate delineations of natural and familiar objects, rather than those cheap and nasty productions which in colour and design are second cousins to the mock valentines of our youth. It may be noted that, when a baby's interest in pictorial literature begins to abate, or to assume a destructive form, an old newspaper makes a most effective substitute for a picture-book. A baby brought up on artistic pictures is being insensibly endowed with a valuable perceptive faculty, which will have influential results in every process of future training. One who is reared on literary and pictorial trash will almost inevitably degenerate into a worshipper of the horse-hair and mahogany standard in life, culture and morals.

The pet fad of most American (and not a few English) librarians is the compilation of model selections of books suitable for children of all ages and temperaments. In many cases this special cult has resulted in the production of some extraordinary lists, in which books are graded or arranged in a series of classes to suit the supposed degree of intelligence possessed by boys and girls of five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and twelve years of age. What is entertaining matter for the lad of twelve must needs, according to this scheme, be poison for his brother of eight, while girl-books are apparently regarded as quite a distinct class from boy-books. This shepherding and patronage of the young idea has attained appalling dimensions in the United States, and one of its most awful results has been the production of the phenomenally impertinent American boys and girls one meets on board Atlantic steamships, in hotels, and even in the streets of London and Edinburgh. Loud-voiced, assertive, impatient, quarrelsome, unlovable, and generally offensive youngsters, who are the production of graded schools, ’snappy' literature, boastful school histories, and unbridled licence at home. The marvel is what becomes of these youthful and genteel American hooligans in after-life, because outside the vulgar, go-ahead commercial circles, one seldom meets among adults with the awful manners so characteristic of the American child. All this may be taken as a warning against forcing the minds of children by artificial educational processes. If this grading of books were executed on thoroughly scientific lines, it might be possible to regard it with some interest, but the mere grouping of books by some mature mind into grades considered suitable for children five years old, ten years old, and so on, is a positive delusion. No allowance is made in such lists for variation in the intelligence of children, and the American graded lists of books are on a par with English Elementary School standards as regards their adaptability to special cases. One can imagine the kind, but watchful, American lady-librarian saying to a boy of eight: 'My dear child, you mustn't take this book to read; it is reserved for boys twelve years old, and might cause you to strain your mental outfit!' If, however, the books were classified in some such order as the following, one could appreciate the attempt to suit literature to its appropriate readers, especially if all children were branded with their mental endowments, after examination in a psychological laboratory:—

The Classification of Child Readers.

A0.	Three-ounce brain child	General
A1.	Three-ounce brain child	plus Philosophical temperament.
A2.	Three-ounce brain child	plus„ PhilosophicalReligious temperament.„
A5.	Three-ounce brain child	plus„ PhilosophicalScientific temperament.„
A6.	Three-ounce brain child	plus„ PhilosophicalMechanical temperament.„
A7.	Three-ounce brain child	plus„ PhilosophicalArtistic temperament.„
A8.	Three-ounce brain child	plus„ PhilosophicalImaginative temperament.„
B0.	Three and a half-ounce brain child	General
B1.	Three and a half-ounce brain child	plus Imaginative temperament.
C2.	Four-ounce brain child	plus„ PhilosophicalReligious temperament.„

This scheme avoids the utterly fallacious theory, codified in American and British catalogues and educational standards, that intelligence goes with age, while it gives abundant scope for psychological diagnosis by those experts in mental physiology who profess to measure up a man's idiosyncrasies by the twist of his toes or the cock of his eyes. Whether vivisection would be a necessary part of the process, only experts can decide!

The attempt to classify books into grades, to suit the supposed tastes and mental abilities of children of various ages whose minds are awakening to activity and acquiring powers of observation, is a complete mistake. So is the plan of separating books for boys and girls, or setting aside those of a low literary quality, but undeniably moral tone, for juvenile consumption. The whole policy of directing the reading of children in grooves, according to some standard, fixed maybe by an unsympathetic adult, is an insult to the intelligence and humanity which reside in boys and girls, however much they may be concealed under the inanities their parents teach them. No doubt some of the mistaken notions as to the possibility of suiting books to ages have arisen from the frequent inquiries which present-giving relatives address to booksellers when they want books suitable for children of a certain age. To meet this demand, certain semi-religious, semi-commercial publishing houses have issued hundreds of tons of books based on the age-limit fetish.

In selecting books for the use of boys and girls, or, in other words, forming a small juvenile library, it is well to avoid most of the literature professedly written for youth, and published at preposterous prices by discerning publishers, who manufacture this gilded rubbish with an eye to the rich uncle rather than to the poor parent or still poorer child. Why children's books should be so expensive, and in proportion to their utility, such a costly class of literature, is one of those puzzles which only publishers can answer. There is comfort in the thought, however, that the majority of the gorgeous and expensively-produced children's books, are not very influential, though they may be cherished on account of their sumptuous bindings. In forming a Children's Home Library it is well to avoid the recommendations of all the specialists who have written guides to selection, or compiled lists of the best twenty, fifty, or hundred books for young readers. Some of these lists are of enormous size, embracing all classes of literature, and including much that is unsuitable for the purpose of the juvenile section of a small Household Library. Ignoring, then, all expert help of this kind, the question has to be considered—what should be provided for the children's library of an ordinary household ? There are certain classes of literature which may be excluded forthwith, not only because they are unattractive and unsuitable, but because they can generally be obtained from any Public Library. This at once disposes of classes like Theology, Mathematical Science, Sociology, Philology, and to a certain extent History and Geography. Biography is also of doubtful value or interest. The 'self-help' and 'pursuit of knowledge under difficulties' kind of literature, which urges us to profit by the example of great natural geniuses who have become famous, is not, on the whole, so salutary as many suppose. It has much the same effect on the minds of healthy and spirited boys and girls as perpetual injunctions to model their deportment and behaviour on some paragon youth or maiden whose conduct is the admiration of all the conventional mothers of a large neighbourhood. Nothing is more repulsive to any healthy-minded youngster than to have these incarnations of all the namby-pamby little virtues set up as patterns for imitation. So exemplary biography is, on the whole, rather a fetish, and calculated to make the 'men who have made themselves' unpopular, and the record of their deeds a wearisome grind. Popular accounts of voyages and travels, and historical books like Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, are on quite another level, and, if such works were not to be had in abundance in Public Libraries, it would be necessary to specify a few. But this part of the subject only proposes to touch the question of good and suitable books for small home libraries, and not that of furnishing larger and more general collections. The most desirable books for a small Children's Home Library are those which can be used by generation after generation of youngsters without becoming tiresome, and which the same child can read over and over again without much loss of interest. In other words, books which have proved their power to interest and even instruct children, by awakening their perceptive faculties, through many years of existence. Imaginative literature, particularly in a prose form, seems to be the class which proves most permanently attractive to all kinds of children. There is an immense field from which selection can be made, but for the purpose of the kind of library now in view the following suggestions of titles are confined to works which have been adopted throughout the English-speaking if not the whole civilized world. Books by such writers as Ballantyne, Fenn, Henty, Mayne Reid, Kingston, and Verne are purposely excluded. They belong distinctly to the gift-book class of literature, which is the province of the rich uncle, besides being contained—generally very completely—in the easily accessible Public Libraries. Omitting these, and such hopelessly 'improving' and impossible books as Sandford and Merton, Swiss Family Robinson, The Fairchild Family, etc., we get various books which are as necessary to a well-ordered household as chairs:—

Æsop. Fables.

Andersen. Fairy Tales.

Arabian Nights.

Bunyan. Pilgrim's Progress.

Burnett. Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Carroll. Alice in Wonderland.

——Through the Looking-glass.

Defoe. Robinson Crusoe.

Dickens. Christmas Books.

Grimm. Household Tales.

Hughes. Tom Brown's Schooldays.

Kipling. Jungle Books.

Lamb. Tales from Shakespeare.

Scott. Ivanhoe.

Stevenson. Treasure Island.

Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Swift. Gulliver's Travels.

Twain. Tom Sawyer.

Jacobs. English Fairy Tales.

Lang's Fairy Books, (Any colour.)

Halliwell-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales.

Palgrave's Children's Treasury of Poetry.

Hutchison. Indoor Games.

——Outdoor Games.

This list contains much that is of great value and interest for children, as well as adults. Indeed, it is very doubtful if Carroll's 'Alice' books are not really grown-up children's books. Many children care little for their elaborate fooling, though they politely acquiesce in the enthusiastic appreciation of their parents. There are others which may be regarded as more suitable for adults, but a long experience has convinced the writer that practically any good book possessing literary merit is suitable equally for old men of seventy and young boys of ten, provided they have any intelligence at all. The list above is merely a suggested beginning for a juvenile home library. It can be increased to almost any extent, and it will be supplemented on many other sides by the adult departments of the small Household Library yet to be considered. Every house ought to contain the whole or most of these books. The game and recreation books are mentioned because they are practical, and describe minor handicrafts as well as sports. The collections of fairy tales by Jacobs, Lang, etc., are also important. The child who reads the book version of Jack the Giant-Killer, and afterwards is taken to see it in pantomime form, will have acquired a valuable lesson in the deceitfulness of appearances which will last him through life, and endow him with a critical caution which will aid him in discriminating between realities and shams.

The lists given below and those submitted in Chapter V—'The School Library', contain a larger provision of suitable books for children of all ages, and some of those, especially in the Nursery book department, may be chosen for household as well as for school use.

LIST OF BOOKS FOR VERY YOUNG CHILDREN.

• Adams (F.) illust. Story of little Jack Sprat; col. ill.
• Æsop, Baby's own Æsop; col. ill. by W. Crane.
• —Fables; ed. by Jacobs.
• —Fables; told to the children by Lena Dalkeith; ill.
• —Hundred Fables; ill. by P. J. Billinghurst.
• —Fabeln für die Jugend; ill. by C. Votteler. [German text.]
• Animal Book: A Natural History for Little Folk.
• Arnim. April Baby's Book of Tunes; ill. by K. Greenaway.
• Arnold's Continuous Readers.
• Baring-Gould (S.). Amazing Adventures; col. ill. by H. B. Neilson.
• —Nursery Songs and Rhymes.
• Baum (L. F.). Mother Goose in Prose; ill.
• Begbie (H.). Bundy in the Greenwood; ill.
• —Bundy on the Sea. ill.
• 'Belgian Hare' Tales with a Twist; col. ill.
• Bell (J. J.). Jack of all Trades; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• —New Noah's Ark; col. ill.
• Bell's Continuous Readers.
• Big Animal Picture Book; col. ill.
• Bilderbuch fur kleine Mâdchen: alte Kinderreime; col. ill. [German text.]
• Billinghurst (P. J.). illust. Hundred Anecdotes of Animals; ill.
• Bingham (C.). Animal's Academy; ill. by Hy. B. Neilson.
• Bird (R.). Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth; ill.
• —One Hundred Bible Stories for Children; ill.
• Blackie's Children's Annual.
• Boelitz (M.), ed. Schöne alte Kinderlieder; col. ill. [German text.]
• Bonser (A. E.). Kings of the Forest ; col, ill.
• Books for the Bairns Series; ed. by W. T. Stead.
• Bo-peep.
• Bo-peep Series; pub. by Classell; col. ill.
• Brabourne (Lord). Friends and Foes from Fairyland; ill.
• —Moonshine; ill.
• Braine (S.). Sparks from the Nursery Fire: rhymes; col. ill.
• Bremner (Kate F.). Book of Song Games and Ball Games; ill. diagrams.
• 'Brenda.' See Smith (Mrs. Castle).
• Brés (Mlle. H.-S.). Mon historie de France; ill. [French text.]
• —Mon histoire naturelle; ill. [French text.]
• —Mon premier alphabet, lecture et écriture; ill. [French text.]
• —Mon premier tour du monde. [French text]; col. ill.
• Brett (David). Nursery Book; col. ill. by D. B.
• Bridgman (C.). The Bairn's Coronation Book; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• Bridgman (C.) A Book of Days for Little Ones; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• —The Shopping Day; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• Brown (A. F.). Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts; ill.
• Brown (J.). Rab and his Friends; ill.
• Browne (G.), illust. Dr. Jollyboy's A.B.C.
• Browne (M.). Sunday Stories for Small People; ill.
• Brymer (John). Gammon and Spinach; col. ill. by S. Orr.
• Bunyan (John). Pilgrim's Progress; ed. by Lang.
• Burgess (G.). Goops and how to be them; ill.
• Buttercupes and Daisies: Stories and Pictures.
• Caldecott (R.), illust. Collection of Pictures and Songs. 2 vols., col. ill.
• —Hey-diddle-diddle Picture-Book.
• —Panjandrum Picture-Book.
• Canton (W.). A Child's Book of Saints; ill.
• Carrington (Edith). True Stories about Animals; col. ill.
• Chadburn (Mabel). The Fairy-bird and Piggywig; ill.
• Chatterbox.
• Child's Own Magazine.
• Child's Own Story-book.
• Chisholm (L.), ed. Nursery Rhymes; ill.
• Cim (Albert). Spectacles enfantins; ill. by Gerbault and Job. [French text.]
• Clements (M. E.). Bible Stories Simply Told; ill.
• Copeland (Walter). The Book of the Zoo; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• —— Farm-book for Little Ones; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• —— The Awful Airship; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• —— The Silly Submarine; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• —— The mad motor; col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• Corbet (S. & K.). Sybil's Garden of Pleasant Beasts; col. ill.
• Crane (W.) ed. The Baby's Opera . . .; ill. by W. C.
• ——The Baby's Bouquet (companion to Baby's Opera); ill. by W. C.
• —— Beauty and the Beast Picture-book; col. ill. by W. C.
• —— Bluebeard's Picture-book; col. ill. by W. C.
• —— Cinderella's Picture-book; col. ill. by W. C.
• —— Flora's Feast: a Masque of Flowers; col. ill. by W. C.
• —— Goody Two Shoes' Picture-book; col. ill. by W. C.
• —— Old Mother Hubbard: her Picture-book; col. ill. by W. C.
• —— Red Riding Hood's Picture-book; col. ill. by W. C.
• Crane (W.) ed. This little Pig; col. ill. by W. C.
• —— See also Lamb.
• Darling's Delight: short stories.
• Darton ed. Sunday Pleasure-book; ill.
• Day (T.). Sandford and Merton in words of one syllable, by Mary Godolphin.
• Defoe (D.). Robinson Crusoe, in words of one syllable, by Mary Godolphin.
• Deutsch-Englisches Bilderbuch [German-English and English-German text]; col. ill.
• Dodge (M. M.). Baby World.
• —— New Baby World.
• —— Rhymes and Jingles.
• —— When Life is Young.
• Dotteler (C.) illust. Buntes A.B.C.; col. ill. [German text.]
• Ducoudray (G.). Cents récits d'histoire de France; ill. [French text.]
• Dumas (A.). La Bouillie de la Comtesse Berthe; ill. by Bertall. [French text.]
• Faithful Friends: pictures and stories; col. ill.
• Fallon (S. W. M.). Animal Alphabet Book; ill.
• Farrow (G. E.). An A.B.C. of Everyday People, Good, Bad and Indifferent; ill. by John Hassall.
• —— Round the World A.B.C.; ill. by John Hassall. Favourite Story-book; col. ill.
• Favourite Story-book.
• Fenn (G. Manville) and others. Little People's Book of Wild Animals; coll. ill.
• Feuillet (O.). Vie de Polichinelle . . .; ill. by Bertall. [French text.]
• Field (E.). Lullaby Land: Songs of Childhood; ill. by C. Robinson.
• For Very Little Folk; by 'Aunt Louisa`'.
• Ford (Robert). Children's Rhymes, Games, Songs and Stories. ill.
• —— ed. Ballads of Babyland: English and American.
• Foster (C.). Story of the Bible in Simple Language; ill.
• 'France, A.' Filles et garcons scenes de la ville et des champs [French text]; ill. by M. B. de Monvell.
• —— Nos enfants [French text]; ill. by M. B. de Monvell.
• Gomme (Alice B.). Old English Singing Games; col. ill.
• Greenaway (K.). A Apple Pie; col. ill.
• —— Book of Games.
• —— A Day in a Child's Life: music by M. B. Forster.
• —— Marigold Garden; col. ill.
• —— Under the Window; col. ill.
• Greenaway (K.). See also Arnim and Taylor.
• Grimm. Fairy Tales for Little Folk; col. ill.
• Groser (H. G.). Little Folks' Land: verses.
• Hamer (S. H.). Set.
• —— and H. Rountree. Menagerie Series (set): ill. by Harry Neilson and Lewis Baumer.
• Hardy (E. S.) illust. A Book for Little People; col. ill.
• —— Nursery Rhymes; ill.
• Haskell (Mrs. L.). Stories from the Bible; ill.
• Hassall (John), illust. Dear old Nursery Tales; col. ill.
• —— Favourite Nursery Tales; col. ill.
• —— My Book of Nursery Rhymes; col. ill.
• Hawthorne (N.). Wonder Book.
• Hay (Helen). The Little Boy Book; col. ill. by F. Ver Beck.
• Hendry (H.). Red Apples and Silver Bells; ill.
• Hepburn (T. N.) 'Gabriel Setoun' pseud. The Child world; ill. by C. Robinson.
• Herford (O.). Artful Anticks; ill.
• —— Child's Primer of Natural History: ill. by O. H.
• Hicks (S.) and A. Hopwood. Bluebell and the Sleepy Ring.
• Hocking (S. K.). Her Benny.
• Hoffmann (F.). Märchen und fabeln für Kinder [German text] col. ill.
• Hoffmann (H.). Prinz Grünewald und Perlenfein; col. ill. by H. H. [German text.]
• —— Der Struwwelpeter; col. ill. by H. H. [German text.]
• —— Struwwelpeter … ; col. ill. ny H. H. [English text.]
• Holiday Picture-book.
• Hutton (E.) ed. Children's Christmas Treasury of Things New and Old; col. ill.
• Jackson (H.) Gentle Jesus: Life of Christ for Little Folk; col. ill.
• Jacobs (J.) Celtic Fairy Tales.
• —— English Fairy Tales.
• Jacquin (J.). Les Animaux en pique-nique [French text]; ill. by G. H. Thompson.
• Jerrold (w.) ed. Big Book of Nursery Rhymes; ill. by C. Robinson.
• —— Nonsense, Nonsense! col. ill. by C. Robinson.
• Jones (Harry). Prince Boohoo and Little Smuts; ill.
• Kemble (E. W.) illust. Kemble's Coons (ill. only).
• King-Hall (E.) Adventures in Toyland.
• La Fontaine (J. de). Fables.
• —— A Hundred Fables; ill by P. J. Billinghurst.
• Lamb (Charles). A Masque of Days from the Last Essays of 'Elia'; newly … decorated by Walter Crane; ill.
• Lang (A.) ed. Nursery Rhyme Book; ill. by L. L. Brooke.
• Lear (E.). Book of Nonsense; ill.
• —— More Nonsense; ill.
• —— Nonsense Botany and Alphabet; ill.
• —— Nonsense Songs; ill.
• Lemonnier (C.). Bébés et joujoux (Premières lectures de l'enfance); ill. [French text.]
• Little Folks' Christmas Volume; ill. (pub. by Cassell)
• Little Folks' Series; ill. (pub. by Cassell).
• Little Nursery Series; ill.
• Little People's Scrap-book; col. ill.
• Lohmeyer (J.) and E. Bormann. Reineke Fuchs; col. ill. by F. Flinzer.
• Longmans' Continuous Readers:—
• —— Cinderella.
• —— History of Whittington.
• —— Jack the Giant Killer.
• —— Princess on the Glass Hill.
• Mack (R.). Mary's Meadow: verses; col. ill.
• Mein erstes Bilderbuch [German text] (chiefly illustrations).
• Minnsen (B) ed. Book of French Song for the Young; ill. by T. H. Robinson. [French text.]
• Mr. Punch's Book for Children; ed. by C. Pears: col. ill.
• —— New Book for Children; ed. by C. Pears; col. ill.
• —— Children's Book; ed. by E. V. Lucas; col. ill.
• Mitchell (E.). Chuckabiddy Stories; ill. by N. E. Handy.
• Molesworth (Mrs.). Set.
• Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes; col. ill. by Mabel Chadburn.
• —— Nursery Rhymes; ill. by F. Opper.
• —— Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales; ill. by Sir J. Gilbert and others.
• —— See also Baum.
• My Best Picture-book; ill.
• My Book of True Stories; col. ill.
• My Own Picture-book.
• My Week-day Picture-book.
• Neilson (Hy. B.) illust. An Animal A. B. C.
• —— Jolly Jumbo; text by C. Bingham; col. ill.
• Nesbit (E.). Story of the Five Rebellious Dolls; col. ill.
• —— and others, Little People's Books of Fun; ill.
• Nicholson (Wm.) illust. An Alphabet; col. ill.
• —— Square Book of Animals; rhymes by A. Waugh; col. ill.
• A 'Nobody's' Scrap-book; col. ill.
• —— Nonsense for Somebody … ; written by a Nobody.
• —— Some more Nonsense.
• Nodier (C.). Trésor des Fèves et Fleur des Pois. … ; ill. [French text.]
• O'Shea. Six Nursery Classics.
• Our Darlings: pictures and stories.
• Our Darling's First Book; ill.
• Our Little Dots; ill.
• Our Little People's Book; ill.
• Outcault (R. F.). Buster Brown …; col. ill.
• Ozaki (Yei T.) Japanese Fairy-book; ill.
• Peary (Mrs.). Children of the Arctic; ill.
• Perrault (C.) and others. Contes de fées; ill. by Berall. [French text.]
• Picture-book of Animals …; col. ill. by Specht.
• Playful Pets; col. ill.
• Plunket (E. M.). Very Short Stories in Very Short Words.
• —————— Comp. Merrie Games in Rhyme from ye Olden Time; ill.
• Potter (Beatrix). Set.
• Poulsson (E.) Child Stories and Rhymes …
• Praeger (S. K.). Child's Picture Grammar; col. ill.
• Premier livre des petits enfants: alphabet complet [French text]: ill. (Les premières lectures de l'enfance).
• Pretty Pictures for Little Pets.
• The Prize.
• 'Quatrelles.' Histoire de l'intrépide Capitaine Castagnette; ill. by G. Doré. [French text.]
• Rands (W. B.). Lilliput Lyrics; ill. by C. Robinson.
• Readers. See Arnold, Bell, Longmans.
• Red Nursery Library; pub. by S.S.U.
• Red Riding Hood.
• Reynard the Fox: the Crafty Courier; in words of one syllable by S. P. Day; ill.
• Rhymes for You and Me; ill. (Children's favourite ser.)
• Riley (J. W.). Rhymes of Childhood.
• Robbins (L.). Dutch Doll Ditties; ill. by C. Bingham.
• Robinson (Phil.) Bubble and Squeak …; ill.
• The Rosebud Annual.
• Rossetti (C. G.). Singsong: a Nursery Rhyme Book; ill. by A. Hughes.
• Rountree (Hy.) Animal Game Book; ill.
• —— See also Hamer.
• Saintsbury (G.) ed. National Rhymes of the Nursery; ill. by G. Browne.
• Schmidt (C. von). Contes pour les …; ill. by Bertall. [French text.]
• 'Setoun (Gabriel)' pseud. See Hepburn.
• Shepherd (J. A.). Zigzag Fables; col. ill.
• Smith (Mrs. C.). 'Brenda'. Froggy's Little Brother.
• —— Nothing to Nobody.
• Smith (Fred). The Animal Book; ill. by Specht.
• Smith (Hannah). 'Hesba Stretton'. Jessica's First Prayer.
• —— Little Meg's children.
• —— Alone in London.
• Sonntag (H.). Magic Ring of Music: intro. to the study of music, adapted to young children. Music.
• Stead (W. T.) ed. Books for the Bairns Ser.
• Stevenson (R. L.). Child's Garden of Verses; ill. by C. Robinson.
• Stories to Read.
• The Story Album of Animals; ill.
• 'Stretton, Hesba.' Sea Smith (Hannah).
• Tabor (E.). Set (pub. anon. When I was a little Girl, and others).
• Tales and Talks about Animals; col. ill.
• Tales for Our Darlings.
• Tales for Tiny Tots.
• Taylor (Jane and Ane). Little Anne; col. ill. by K. Greenaway.
• Tell me a Story.
• Tennyson (H.). Jack and the Beanstalk; ill. by R. Caldecott.
• Thomson (Hugh) illust. Jack the Giant Killer.
• Thorley (E. J.). An Alphabet; ill.
• 'Tip-Cat' pseud. Amy.
• Tournier (L.). Les premiers chants: poesies [French text]; ill.
• The Train Scrap-book (col. ill. only).
• Upton (B.). The Golliwog Series.
• Verbeek (G.). The Upside-downs of little Lady Lovekins and old man Muffaroo; ill.
• Wallace-Dunlop (M.) and M. Rivett Carnac. Fairies, Elves and Flower-babies; ill.
• Watson (E. M.) and others. Once upon a time: favourite nursery tales; ill.
• Weatherly (F. E.). Book of Gnomes; ill. by E. S. Hardy.
• Webb (W. Trego). Book of Bad Children; ill. (Little blue books.)
• Weber (E.) ed. Neue Kinderlieder [German text]: col. ill.
• Weedon (L. L.). Nursery Tales; ill.
• Whyte (C. G.). Adventures of Merrywink.
• Wyss (J. R.). Swiss Family Robinson; ed. by M. Godolphin (one syllable).