CHARLOTTE JACKSON

CHARLOTTE JACKSON, who is the author of seven juveniles, is children’s hook editor for the San Francisco CHRONICLE.

There is a bountiful book harvest for young people this Christmas, with enough variety to give any child on your list many enjoyable hours.

WHERE DID TUFFY HIDE? by ISABEL AND FREDERICK EBERSTADT (Little, Brown) with harmonizing pictures by Leonard Weisgard. Most small dogs love to hide, and Tuffy was no exception; but the places he chose — the bread box, the dollhouse, and inside the grandfather clock—proclaimed him a puppy of perspicacity.

AROUND THE YEAR by TASHA TUDOR (Oxford) tells in charming verse and delicately colored pictures interesting bits of information about every month of the year.

BIG RED BUS by ETHEL AND LEONARD KESSLER (Doubleday), written with toddlers in mind, is the story of a little boy and his mother who board a big bus to go shopping for new shoes. The trip is recorded in action-filled sentences and fresh childlike flat pictures.

THE LONELY DOIL by DARE WRIGHT (Doubleday). Edith was a very lonely doll, indeed, until she acquired two teddy-bear playmates, one of whom gets her into all sorts of mischief. Children, as well as their parents, will appreciate the wonderful photographic detail that shows the toys in lifelike attitudes rummaging in clothes closets, climbing on dressing tables, upsetting perfume bottles.

SPARKLE AND SPIN by ANN AND PAUL RAND (Harcourt, Brace). This book about words, written and deco-

rated by a leading American artist and his wife whose first book, I Know a Lot of Things, was extremely well received, is unusually handsome and may well be an adult collector’s item. For children, however, the text seems confusing and the illustrations far too sophisticated.

LITTLE BEAR by ELSE HOLMELUND, with beguiling pictures by Maurice Scndak (Harper), is a book of episodes in a small bear’s life that beginners can easily read, and a sequence of events that they will automatically associate with their own experiences.

EDWARD AND THE BONES, Written and illustrated by DOROTHY MARINO (Lippincott). Edward, finding an odd lot of cartons in the hall, does exactly what any other little boy would do in like circumstances. He makes them into suitable houses for his various pets. It is all great fun, even after his mother comes in with arms filled with winter clothes she intended to store in the boxes.

THE WORLD OF POOH by A. A. MILNE, illustrated by E. H. Shepard (Dutton). Most parents of this generation, who were brought up on Winnie-the-Pooh, are now able to share their childhood enjoyment of these whimsical characters with their own children. The books come in one volume, with many new pictures in color and black and white.

CURIOUS GEORGE GETS A MEDAL by H. A. KEY (Houghton Mifflin). This, the fourth book in the series about George, the unpredictable monkey, and his mirth-provoking antics, finds him in unbelievable situations including a test flight he is persuaded to make into outer space. A gay parade of monkey pictures.

ORANGE OLIVER by ROBERT LASSON, illustrated by Chuck Hayden (David McKay). A most original and amusing story about a myopic kitten, Oliver, who was always stumbling into puddles and missing birds and butterflies when he leaped at them, until everyone thought he was quite stupid. This general attitude changed, though, once Oliver got properly fitted with glasses.

ANATOLE AND THE CAT by EVE TITUS, pictures by Paul Galdone (Whittlesey House). Anatole, the magnificent French mouse who distinguished himself by becoming a cheesetaster in the first book by this author-artist team, in these, his further adventures, has terrific trouble with a pestiferous cat who belongs to the owner of the cheese factory. Anatole copes with it, however, and all is serene before the story ends. Gay red, white, and blue pictures.

OLD BET by ANNE COLVER, illustrated by Tony Palazzo (Knopf). Old Bet, the first elephant ever to come to America, arrived from Africa with her ten-year-old keeper nearly one hundred and fifty years ago, and subsequently became a star attraction in Bailey’s traveling menagerie. Her life in the circus should provide an exciting and absorbing adventure tale for readers in the eight-to-twelvc group. A colorful profusion of pictures adds greatly to the text,

MOUSE HOUSE by RUMER GODDEN, illustrated by Adrienne Adams (Viking). An ingratiating story of a basement mouse, who, because of crowded family conditions, came by chance to seek shelter in a jewel box, the home of two very dull toy mice. Miss Godden, in her imaginative way, makes the most of this situation. The artist’s drawings in subdued color reflect the feeling of this story for ten-year-olds.

ROBERT LAWSON, winner of both the Caldecott and Newbery medals in different years, in this, regretfully his last book, THE GREAT WHEEL (Viking), tells the enormously entertaining tale of a twelve-year-old Irish boy, Conn, who immigrated to this country in 1893 to join his uncle in the construction business. He worked on “the greatest wheel in the world” (the first Ferris wheel) at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, a job that bore out what his Aunt Honoria had read in the tea leaves before he left Ireland. There was other good fortune for Conn, too, including a happy romance with Trudy, whom he met on a trip to Wisconsin. Some of Lawson’s finest drawings illustrate the story.

GIWTS OF JAZZ by STUDS TERKEL (Crowell) includes twelve biographies of outstanding American jazz artists, their influence on one another and on music in general. Jazz enthusiasts will prize this volume with its discography and index.

RIFLES FOR WATIE by HAROLD KEITH (Crowell) is a top-notch novel for the high school age, dealing with some of the little-known campaigns of the Civil War and the important part played in that struggle by the Cherokee Indians.

MIDSHIPMAN CRUISE by SCOTT CORBETT (Atlantic-Little, Brown), an extremely readable story based on the Naval Academy’s yearly midshipman cruise to Northern Europe. The author, a civilian guest on one of these cruises, weaves his story around three boys aboard the cruise ship Morton. This is a sea saga that will give older boys an idea of Academy life.

AN ADVENTURE IN GEOMETRY, Written and illustrated by ANTHONY RAVIELLI (Viking). The title is the only uninspiring part of this provocative, brilliant dissertation on the beauties of geometric shapes in nature: the rolling meadow, the crescent-shaped dunes, the delicate spirals of a sea shell. The clear prose and the precisely beautiful drawings make this a welcome gift for anyone.

CATHERINE THE GREAT by KATHARINE SCHERMAN (Random House). Older girls will enjoy this perceptively written biography of the spirited German princess, who, overcoming tremendous odds, became a wise and courageous woman and ultimately one of Russia’s greatest rulers. A Landmark book.

THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE by BERNRDINE KIELTY (Randoin House), another outstanding book in the Landmark scries, gives a graphic recapitulation of the historical events that led to the downfall of a city that had flourished as a mccca of culture and great riches for over a thousand years while the shroud of the Dark Ages enveloped Europe.

BOY BLEE’S BOOK OF BEASTS by WILLIAM JAY SMITH, illustrations by Juliet Kepes (Atlantic—Little, Brown). The author of Laughing Time, in this new book of nonsense verse, chooses thirty-nine beasts from Boy Blue’s earth-wide zoo and poetizes charmingly about each one. Mrs. Kepes’ animal drawings are exactly in key.

A book not to be neglected is AROUND AND ABOUT, rhymes written and illustrated by MARCHETTE CHUTE (Dutton). The versatile author, who gave the children’s-book world the memorable Stories from Shakespeare last year, has collected her own magical rhymes in one volume intended for the beginning readers.

Topping the books with a Christmas theme is THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS by PHYLLIS McGINLEY, with full-page color illustrations by Kurt Worth (Lippincott). The morning that Santa Claus woke up and said, “Crick in my back, cold in my nose, aches in my fingers and all ten toes,” he resolved that for once he would take a holiday and not deliver a single present. The consternation all over the world was terrific when the news got about, but then one brave boy thought fast and saved the day for everyone, including the good saint. The whole merry saga is told in the inimitable verse of Miss McGinley.

by DR. SEUSS (Random House). No one but a Grinch would even dream of trying to destroy Christmas, and he found, too, that the Christmas spirit is something intangible, far out of reach for him and his nefarious schemes. Wonderful fantasy, in the true Dr. Seuss manner. Drawings in two colors.

CHRISTMAS MINIATURE by PEARL S. BUCK, illustrations by Anna Marie Magagna (John Day). There is nothing unusual about a small boy who, unable to close his eyes on Christmas Eve, creeps downstairs while the rest of the family sleeps, but it is unusual for a six-year-old prowler to rescue a family of baby mice who are being stalked by the family cat directly under the shining Christmas tree. That is exactly what Sandy of this story does.

THE ILL-TEMPERED TIGER by JANE MILLER (Lippincott). A tiny book apropos for any small child who balks at naps and as a consequence is as cross as two sticks. This funny story about a tiger of like disposition and how his problem was solved has engaging pictures in splashy color. A fine stocking present.