Looking as if it has been through the wars-tipped in colour plates removed, items cut out , some pages loose , foxed and bumped- this is a special 1914 Christmas double number . The first part was launched about the outbreak of hostilities ; the second, issued in December , is larger and contains several supplements in which war, past and present , is the subject of some volumes and there are advertisements for the extensive range of newspaper books on the current war , including the German spy ring, how women can help wounded and how to help Lord Kitchener .
The influence of the war is clearly reflected in the torn and scuffed cover illustration entitled The Glory of Belgium , it having been invaded by the Germans in August .
Not knowing that a seemingly endless monstrous war would engulf the world for years , the offerings included many light- hearted books for boys and girls , one The Children's ABC of the War, with 26 coloured illustrations, said to contain nothing likely to alarm the most tender imagination , all told and pictured "with humour and a touch of kindness ."
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The above graphic accompanied the write up for Belgian Playmates , by Nellie Pollock ,illustrated by Charles Folkard , " a capital little story "of the present war designed to not only entertain juvenile readers with its narrative of two heroes who went out with the Expeditionary Force-one to return covered with glory , the other to lay down his life for the country , giving them a vivid idea of the great happenings of the day .
To this is added "an interesting and amusing account " of the doings of certain English children and their small Belgian playmates in the home circle from which the two heroes went to the front , and to which news of them comes to thrill their quiet lives with excitement .
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Books written and illustrated by Australians include: The Girl From the Back -Blocks, by Lilian Turner , about a 14 year old country girl's experiences at a school in town , an entertaining story , lucky would be the girl who found it among her gifts on Christmas day ; Bushland Stories by Amy Eleanor Mack , a charming collection of stories for children , written by author who is an enthusiastic nature-lover , and thoroughly conversant with the haunts and denizens of her beloved bushland ; Scribbling Sue , also by Mack, illustrated by May Gibbs, frontispiece in colour . Children of Wild Australia , by Oliphant , which includes a drawing of a" tattooed brave ."
Novels with an Australian touch are : By Blow and Kiss , the love story of a man with a bad name , by Boyd Cable , which gives a capital picture of sheep farming in Australia , and human passions of love, jealousy and hate ; Flower O' The Pine , by Ethel Turner , a quite exquisite picture of a little Australian girl ; A Tail of Gold , an Australian mining story written in a crisp style , by David Hennessey .
Scottish author J.M. Barrie, famous for Peter Pan , the boy who never wanted to grow up , rates a special mention ; his son , George , was killed in the war, as was one of the boys who inspired the character Peter Pan .
One of the many authors the subject of extensive profiles is schoolteacher Edith Howes of New Zealand , a Dominion which enjoys a world wide reputation as a paradise for the worker , where the schooling system enables the sons and daughters of professional men sit side by side on the benches with the children of the working man .
She is tipped to become as famous as Lewis Carroll and Selma Lagerloff because of her works , which use observations of Nature to open the eyes of infants to the fairyland all around them . After many rejections , Sun Babies became a hit , then Fairy Rings told how two children named Win and Twin, brought the fairies all the way from Ireland, over the seas in a fairy ship , and established them safely in Maoriland . ( Bookman unearthed by Magnetic Island researcher Gary Davies .)
