Thumb-nail Book Reviews

Turkestan Solo. By Ella Maillart. Putnam.

This book is so instructive and so entertaining that the identity of its author is almost immaterial: neverltheless, it adds very much to one’s enjoyment to know that it is the work of a young woman of Swiss nationality who has made a name for herself as an intrepid yachtswoman, a daring mountaineer, and a champion ski-racer.

E.D.R.

Happy Families. By Harry Graham. Cape.

In these days of child prodigies and sophisticated children whose lives are run with the ordreed regularity of a machine and to a schedule of orange Juice, spinach and halibut oil. it is refreshing to be drawn into the pleasant world of Captain Graham’s making. What a relief it is to be meet there the ordinary child instead of the modern product, that superior creature so well calculated to induce an inferiority complex in the mere adult.

In the Bayswater home of the Mycrofts one feels comfortably at home. There is Alice—a martyr to tapioca pudding and figs; Martin, an aspirant to Scotland Yard fame, and the adorable Timothy, with a familiar predilection for unwashed hands and the close company of William, his pet mouse. Aunt Emily, a would-be dragon, but in reality a lover of peace and quiet, and fat, placid Nanny form a fitting background.

Not that adventure is lacking. The encounter with the Duke, the holiday at Brampton Towers, the burglary, and, finally, Alice’s abduction by the thieves, provide the right element of excitement. Mr. Lewis Baumer contributes nice illustrations to this altogether charming book.

S. T.

Sons of Sawdust. Written and illustrated by Edward Seago. Putnam.

Mr. Seago is an artist not only with pencil and brush but also with the pen, and these twin abilities have enabled him to produce a very delightful picture of the circus.

“Sons of the Sawdust” is the record of Mr. Seago’s journeying along the by-ways of Western Ireland with Paddy O’Flynn’s World-Famous Circus, and it is to be hoped that Paddy has been presented with a copy of this book, for it should enable him to realize that however lacking in financial profit his entertainment has been he has indeed justified himself.

R. H.