great care. It is false economy to buy crude, poor books from the bargain counters in order to spend more money on toys and other less important nursery furnishings. A really good illustrated book is copyrighted and commands a good price, as it should, but it is worth the cost. Happy the nursery possessing any of Boutet de Monvel’s priceless volumes, or Walter Crane’s illustrated fairy tales, or Kate Greenaway’s lovely designs.[1]
Not the least attractive of illustrated nursery volumes are the children’s scrapbooks of their own making. For this purpose the material should be accumulated gradually, as a delightful pursuit, the mother gently directing the collection that it may consist of really good things. It is best not to draw the lines too sharply to discourage a child, but so far as possible weed out inferior pictures from time to time. A scrapbook of miscellaneous pictures is best adapted to the little ones, but as children grow older they are more interested to specialize in their collections. Definite subjects may be chosen for their books: animals, child figures, mythology, chivalry, history, Italian art, American art, Bible story, the life of Christ, famous beauties, authors, royalties and so on. A very pleasing idea for boys and girls bearing historical names, or names of saints, is to find pictures of their famous prototypes. The Georges may look for
- ↑ Among present-day illustrators, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Millicent Sowerby and Arthur Rackham do charming work for children. A beautiful art treasure for children is Mrs. Isabel Anderson’s Great Sea Horse, a collection of fairy tales with illustrations designed by the mural painter, John Elliott.
