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With Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson Conan Doyle created the detective genre. And these first detective novels are still read today as well as being made into films and TV series.
The above publications form an excellent introduction to Sherlock Holmes for young people. The Puffin books all contain eight stories each which are all complete and unabridged. The New Windmill book is intended for school use and is from a series which comes with introductions, glossaries and suggestions for activities. Again the original stories are unabridged.
It is good to see that young people are not being allowed to forget the master detective.
12+
With an introduction by H.R.F. Keating.
Today we have a plethora of detective stories set in every corner of the globe and in every age of the past. So it is good to see that Conan Doyle, the creator of the genre is not forgotten. Breese Books is the name of a small press which specialises in pastiches of Sherlock Holmes. And this is an example of their publications.
The book contains four short stories which are a fair mirror of the original. There is Doyle’s mix of both diplomatic and domestic mysteries. The former are represented by the abduction of the Prince of Japan and also by the theft of some naval documents and blueprints. The latter concerns a young lady whose mother was poisoned as well as a rather curious story about a lady who was continually overcharged by cab drivers. All are told with the usual twists and turns. The style of the language is also suitably verbose and formal.
Yet it must be said that there are a few flaws. A man marries a wealthy heiress and has to beg her for money. But surely under the Victorian marriage laws it would have been his by right? And a murderer leaving a diary together with a bottle of poison with full instructions for its use – surely that is just too convenient even if the drawer was locked.
Yet despite a few similar slips this is still an achievement when it is considered that the author was only fourteen at the time.
As H.R.F. Keating says in his introduction what is really important is that Doyle’s original stories have so inspired a modern young writer to write this book.
12 +
London 1898.
Sixteen-year-old Stella Morris works as a clairvoyant in the music halls. She does this with the assistance of her guardian, her Nana, who gives her information and chooses who is to come to her on stage.
Then her Nana dies suddenly. Stella is left completely alone. She has no other family that she knows of. But just when things seem at their worst she finds that Nana had a considerable sum of money saved up for her. Then this comfort is snatched away as she is told that her Nana had made bad investments and the money is no longer there.
Stella's training has taught her to know when people are lying and she is convinced that she is being cheated out of her inheritance. But what can she do about it? And how is she to earn her living in the meantime?
She is fortunate in finding one good friend -- Thomas Staples who works for the undertaker who buries her Nana. Together they set about trying to recover her inheritance and unmask the thief who stole it.
An unusual story which shows the struggle some people had to survive in the late nineteenth century.
Young adult.
Victorian London.
Ivy lives with her aunt and cousins in one of the poorest parts of London until she is lured away by Carroty Kate. Kate is what is known as a ‘skinner.’ She entices children away from their mothers or nannies and strips them of their expensive clothes which she then sells in the markets. She realises that the five-year-old Ivy could be a great help in coaxing the children to her. When she takes Ivy back to her thieves’ lodging she uses laudanum to keep the little girl quiet and amenable. This goes on for several years until the forces of the law catch up with Carroty Kate and Ivy finds her way back to her own family –– who also continue to give her laudanum.
Then Ivy’s life takes another turn. She is spotted in the market by a third rate artist who thinks she would make a perfect model or ‘stunner.’ He sends his mother to negotiate with Ivy’s family, terms are agreed and Ivy travels daily to pose for the artist.
Ivy does not like being an artist’s model but one good thing comes of it. The servant of the next door neighbour manages to convince her of the harm laudanum is doing to her and gradually Ivy succeeds in weaning herself away from it.
But there are other dangers for Ivy. The artist’s mother had always posed for him before and she resents Ivy and is jealous of her. She even tries to poison her. Another time Ivy has to pose with a snake which tries to poison her in a different way.
Ivy eventually has the chance to pose for the artist next door –– a real artist. But by this time Ivy has decided what she wants to do with her life. She wants to help in the incipient Battersea Dogs’ Home where she would be welcomed by the staff. The only problem is that they cannot afford to pay her. But perhaps this problem is not insurmountable.
This book has an unusual background depicting the ‘stunners,’ the ordinary girls picked off the streets to model for artists. The widespread use of laudanum in Victorian times is also highlighted. The beginnings of the Battersea Dogs Home are fascinating and add another dimension to the story.
A highly original novel about Victorian London.
This is the introductory book of a planned series. Victorian London. A petty criminal is escaping across a rooftop when he falls through a skylight and suffers horrific injuries. He would have died but an ambitious young surgeon, Robert Farcett, sees a chance to make a name for himself by saving him. He operates on the criminal and later the Governor of the prison gives him permission to take his subject, under guard, to meetings of the Scientific Society where he is exhibited like an animal. The criminal is given the name Montmorency from the name on his toolbag. But Montmorency puts his humiliation at these meetings to good use. He learns all he can from them. One lecture he hears turns out to be especially useful. It is about the new London sewers. Montmorency helps to hold up a chart and so comes to learn the intricate underground network. He also learns much in prison. One of his cell mates is a skilled mimic and he passes on the secrets of his art to Montmorency. Montmorency uses this new knowledge when he comes out of jail. He plans to use the sewers as a means of escape from the police after he has raided a house. He also uses his new skill as a mimic to create a new personality for himself as a wealthy gentleman. But he still appears as his old self -- in the form of his servant Scarper. So begins a new life for Montmorency. His thieving is so successful that he is able to take a room in a hotel where he lives in comfort, although he has to fight off the unwanted attentions of the daughter of the owner. However this life is not without its dangers. When Montmorency was just setting himself up he stole some clothes from Dr Farcett. Later a hatter recognises Montmorency's hat as Dr Farcett's. Montmorency has to think quickly to avoid discovery. There is also danger in the sewers, especially one day when there is a storm, the sewers are flooded and Montmorency is washed out into the Thames. For most of the book Montmorency is a very unsympathetic character, stealing without any thought of the distress he might be causing. He even allows his old cell mate to take the blame and hang for his own crimes. Then three quarters through the book things begin to change. And the change begins with one incident in particular. Montmorency grabs the reins of a frightened horse. He is surprised to be hailed as a hero as the occupant of the cab is convinced that Montmorency has saved his life. This leads to Montmorency's friendship with a wealthy gentleman and his entry into society. He leaves the hotel and moves into a gentleman's club. He also finds that his new friend has a secret and unusual job -- one in which Montmorency's own skills will be invaluable. So instead of being a criminal Montmorency finds himself working in the service of his country -- a new career which will no doubt form the basis of the rest of the books in the series. The incident with the cab horse also marks another change as Montmorency begins to develop a conscience. The horse dies and Montmorency slips some money to the devastated cab driver so that he can buy another horse. This book contains a great seal of information about the London sewers. It also shows the contrast between the lives of the wealthy and the poorer classes. An unusual story about Victorian London. Teenage
This is the second book in the Victorian mystery series.
At the end of the first book the former criminal Montmorency has provided himself with a new identity. He is also using his dubious talents in the service of his country. It would seem that the background and the characters is firmly established for the rest of the series.
Not so. At the beginning of the second book Montmorency tries drugs when on a clandestine mission for the British government inTurkey. He becomes addicted but his friend and colleague Lord George Fox-Selwyn manages to get him back to England. Fox-Selwyn knows that there is only one person who can help Montmorency. This is Doctor Farcett who had mended Montmorency’s broken body after the horrific accident at the beginning of the first book. But there is a problem. The Doctor is blaming himself for the death of a patient and is threatening to give up medicine. However he eventually agrees to help and Montmorency is taken to the Scottish island of Tarimond to recuperate.
Then Fox-Selwyn is recalled to London. Later he sends a message saying that Montmorency – who by this time is much better – is needed there too. Doctor Farcett goes with him. Babies are dying on Tarimond and the Doctor is determined to find out why. He knows that he will be able to get expert advice in London.
When they reach London Fox-Selwyn tells them that there has been two explosions which the government is trying to keep secret. He wants Montmorency’s help to try and find out who is behind the explosions. So Fox-Selwyn and Montmorency set to work. In the course of their investigations Montmorency is reunited with Vi, the daughter of his former landlady in the first book.
Meanwhile Doctor Farcett continues with his own investigations into the deaths of the babies.
Apart from the story element two important themes run through this book. The first theme is that of guilt. Doctor Farcett lost his patient because he had been performing a public operation which was actually unnecessary. He had put his pride and desire for advancement before good medicine. He mitigates this feeling of guilt by starting to work part time for the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. Montmorency is also experiencing deep feelings of guilt. He keeps remembering how he had let the Freakshow – the criminal who had been kind to him in jail – take the blame, and eventually hang, for his own crimes.
The other theme is people being wrongly blamed and accused. The government is determined to conceal the truth behind the explosions. The first one is said to have been caused by a gas explosion and an innocent welder is found to take responsibility. Later an innocent man is jailed. And regarding the death of the babies, the island priest is blamed and his house burnt down.
The book ends on Tarimond and it is obvious that the island is going to play an important in further books in the series. Fox-Selwyn has decided to build a summer home – along with a hospital, a school and a house for a new priest. The Doctor is clearly attracted to the island nurse. Vi decides to stay on the island. She is pregnant and, although the reader is not told, the father can only be Montmorency.
Tarimond is an unusual name for a Scottish island and it is a pity that some explanation is not given.
Carries forward the story of Montmorency and helps to establish the other characters.
Teenage
This is the third volume in the Montmorency series and time has moved on thirteen years from the second book. We are now introduced to two younger members of the team –– Tom the simple country boy from Tarimond and Lord Francis, or Frank as he prefers to be called, the younger son of Lord George Fox-Selwyn. Tom is the son of Montmorency although he does not know that.
The story starts off with what should be a straightforward investigation. An English naturalist and collector has some of his specimens stolen. He believes the culprit to be a Mr Lopello, his assistant. Since Lopello comes from Italy Montmorency decides to start the search there. So Montmorency, Dr Fawcett and Fox-Selwyn all set out for Florence where they meet up with Fox-Selwyn’s brother and his two sons Alexander and Francis (or Frank), who are travelling to try to help them get over the death from flu of their wife and mother.
The theft is solved surprisingly quickly but then there is another development. Frank makes friends with some radical Italian students. At first, when he is drinking and socialising with them, he does not realise what they are actually like and he does not take their wild talk seriously. Then the truth is brought sharply before him. There is a riot and a policeman is killed. Frank’s new friends are anarchists who plan to kill prominent rulers in Europe and bring down all organized governments.
Frank is sought by the police as he had helped to throw firebombs and he may also have carried important packages and messages. Montmorency and his friends manage to get Frank out of Italy and back to England but they are not prepared to leave it at that. They are determined to thwart the anarchists and their wicked plans.
The book covers a broad canvas. The story moves between the Scottish island of Tarimond, London, Italy and America. And, since he speaks Italian and has made contact with the anarchists, Frank is drawn into the plans –– with surprising success. Now there is no need for Montmorency to revert to his alter ego Scarper. Frank can dress up and play the part perfectly. But is it a part? As time goes on Montmorency and his friends become increasingly concerned as Frank seems to be actually becoming Scarper instead of just pretending.
The story also brings in some of the prominent peopleof the nineteenth century. In Italy the composer Puccini is introduced and while in America Dr Fawcett meets and works with Edison. They are learning about the benefits of x-rays but they have yet to learn of its dangers.
The book ends with a double tragedy which leaves Dr Fawcett with a dreadful burden of guilt and Montmorency with a savage desire for revenge.
This is the last book in the quartet of books about Montmorency. It follows on directly from the third book ––Montmorency and the Assassins. In this book the anarchist plot was foiled but Malpensa, the leader of the anarchists, was still at large.
At the beginning of Montmorency’s Revenge a strange man is spotted hanging around Glendarvie Castle. Is this one of the anarchists? The anarchists know that they killed Lord George Fox-Selwyn and they may be wondering if any of his family are coming after them and watching them.
Frank Fox-Selwyn is desperate to go to London and revenge himself on the people who killed his uncle. But his family tell him it would be too dangerous and refuse to listen to him when he says he will disguise himself. Then Inspector Howard arrives from London. He needs Frank’s help. Queen Victoria is ill and her doctors know that it is only a matter of time before she dies. Her funeral would be a great opportunity for the anarchists –– and Frank is the one who would recognise most of them. Eventually it is agreed that Frank can help and an ingenious plan is worked out.
Doctor Robert Fawcett is still devastated by the death of Maggie. He agrees to go into a special hospital for care. But he will go under Frank’s name. Meanwhile Frank will disguise himself and go to London under a new name. Does this plan work?
Like the other three books this one is equally far-ranging. The action moves from Glendarvie Estate to the island of Tarimond, to London, Glasgow, Italy and America. Tom and Frank start to take over the work previously done by Montmorency and George Fox-Selwyn. And while Montmorency and Scarper were different facets of the same person, with the new generation they diverge. Frank (or Jack as he is now known) takes on the characteristics of Scarper while Tom tries to keep him in check. Tom also finds for himself a new and rather unusual career.
It would be better if the other three books were read first as this is not really a stand-alone.
Brings the series to a close and neatly ties up all the loose ends.
Young adult
Manchester in the 1830s.
Joe and his sister Annie are two orphans in the workhouse. They are sent to work for a farmer and his wife who starve them and beat them. But they escape and meet the traveller Travis who shows them how to survive. Then they spend some time with a travelling fair. Annie has a strange gift. She is a medium and the fair can use her. Joe, on the other hand, does not fit in and he leaves the fair, goes to Manchester and joins a gang of street children. But his conscience is troubling him because he had promised his mother that he would look after Annie. Then he is adopted by a philanthropist who tries to educate him and civilise him. But this is really part of an experiment to see what could be achieved with the working classes and finally Joe runs away to Abel Heywood, a printer who is running an illegal newspaper. Does Abel help him to find his sister again and does Joe discover why his mother never came back for her children?
This book clearly shows the conditions in which many had to live at the time with poverty and lack of sanitation leading to the cholera epidemics. To say nothing of the harsh laws which allowed gamekeepers to use mantraps the likes of which crippled Travis. The politics of the time are also shown with Abel’s newspaper and his explanations to Joe of Peterloo and much more.
Livi Michael got the idea for this book from a true story she heard. A farmer and his wife took a boy and a girl from the workhouse to work for them. Then people began to notice that the children never got any older. This was because the farmer and his wife worked them to death and then had them replaced with other children. They were only found out when the mother of one of the children came looking for her child. The philanthropist and Abel Heywood were both actual people.
Comes with a historical note.
Told largely in the present tense. Covers a wide canvas and is reminiscent of Dickens.
England 1855.
Twelve-year-old Daniel is the adopted son of the owner of Hubble’s circus. Daniel had been found as a baby in the lion’s cage. He had been abandoned and left there as a baby. Now, twelve years later, Daniel has his own place in the circus. He is an accomplished rider and has his own act. He also helps with a variety of behind-the-scenes jobs.
Then something happens which makes Daniel feel uncomfortable. He discovers that he can see the future, although he takes care to keep that to himself.
One thing he foresees is that a strange woman, Josie, is going to join the circus. It turns out that she is the daughter of an old friend of Mr Hubble and she is fleeing from some men in London. She has something which they want. They follow her and try to kidnap her but they get Daniel by mistake. The take him to London and hope to trade him for her.
Mr Hubble follows in pursuit with support from the circuses’ strong man only to find that Daniel has used his circus skills to escape. How are they going to find him now? And what does Josie have which the men want so badly?
All is eventually revealed. A treasonable plot involving guns and the Crimean War is uncovered. Daniel discovers who his mother is and why he has the gift of second sight.
An exciting story with an unusual background. The first part about the circus is fascinating and then the scene changes to the crime-ridden streets of the poorer parts of London.
11+
Teenage romance. London 1808.
Sixteen-year-old Nicola Sparks is an orphan. When she leaves Madame Vieuxvincent's Seminary for Young Ladies she goes to say with the family of Honoria, one of her friends. Nicola is infatuated with the brother of her friend, Lord Sebastian. But her first proposal comes from Harold, the ineffectual son of her guardian. Then Lord Sebastian proposes and she accepts.
Nicola has also spent many holidays at the home of her best friend, Eleanor Sheridan, whose brother Nathaniel is always teasing her. Then Nathaniel starts to put doubts in her mind about Lord Sebastian. Nicola investigates further and finds out the truth about Lord Sebastian. He is not interested in her at all. He is only interested in her inheritance.
Nicola may be an orphan but her father has left her an abbey in Northumberland which provides her with some income. She is horrified when her guardian urges her to sell it. Then she finds out that the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company want to run a railway through her land and demolish the abbey. The only home she had ever known would be destroyed and the livelihood of her tenants ruined. Lord Sebastian and her guardian are in league to gain the profits from the sale.
Devastated Nicola breaks off her engagement with Lord Sebastian. But that is not the end of the matter. There is danger and abduction ahead for Nicola before she ends up in the arms of the one who really cares for her. Someone whom all devotees of the romance genre will have recognised from the very first chapter.
As well as being an enjoyable read this book also gives an interesting picture of the period. Nicola is always remembering what Madame Vieuxvincent used to say about how a lady should behave. Also there are many descriptions of the balls at Almack's.
Above all there are the snippets about the early developement of the railways. In particular there is a fascinating description of Richard Trevithick's Catch Me Who Can in Euston Square.
A treat for all lovers of the romance genre.
London 1810. Teenage romance.
After the death of her parents in a malaria outbreak Victoria Arthbuthnot was been brought up in India by her three batchelor uncles. When she is sixteen she is sent back to England to stay with her aunt and uncle Gardiner and their large family. On the ship she is flattered by the attention Lord Malfrey pays to her and overwhelmed when he proposes to her near the end of the voyage. But the proposal is very sudden and Victoria is about to turn him down when the tiresome Captain Carstairs appears on the scene. In a fit of pique Victoria tells the Lord that she will be honoured to become his wife.
Despite her engagement to Lord Malfrey Victoria is to see a great deal of Captain Carstairs in the next few weeks as he is an old friend of the Gardiner family. He is just as annoying as he had been on the ship. He continues to call her Miss Bee -- as in busy bee -- because she is always trying to organise other people's lives.
Lord Malfrey has to go to Lisbon but he assures Victoria that he will get a special license when he returns. In the meantime she settles down with her new family. There is plenty for her to do. She has to arrange for her eldest cousin Rebecca to become engaged. She has to persuade Cook to improve the menus. She has to find ways of making her younger cousins behave better and of making her uncle more talkative. As well as taking her place in society and attending dances at Almack's.
Captain Carstairs tries to warn Victoria that Lord Malfrey is not an honourable man and he just wants to marry her for her money. Very shrewdly, he points out that Victoria is not really in love with him. The attraction is simply that Malfrey's personal affairs are in a mess and the dominant Victoria cannot resist the challenge to tery to put them right.
We all know that Captain Carstairs is right. The word 'rogue' in the title tells us that. But Victoria refuses to listen. Then Captain Carstairs tells her how Malfrey had treated his sister. Shocked Victoria tricks Malfrey into showing his true colours. This results in her being abducted. She is facing the ruination not only of her own reputation but also that of her cousins. How will the resourceful Victoria get herself out of this situation?
This book faithfully obeys all the rules of the romance genre. Victoria and Captain Carstairs fight and squabble their way through the whole book until the second last page. This is a sure sign for all romance readers that the book is going to end with them in each other's arms.
A true example of the romance genre. And good fun to read.
Enjoyable.
This is from Scholastic’s fictional diary series, My Story.
Bob Jenkins is the son of the head groom to the squire of the village. The squire’s eldest son, Ralph Holder, is an officer in the Royal Horse Artillery. When Napoleon escapes from Elba Bob, who is fifteen, wants to join the army but his parents say he is too young but a compromise is reached. Captain Holder says he will take Bob but as his servant and not as a soldier.
So Bob starts to learn his new duties. He has to be able to pack the Captain’s kit on the two packhorses. There is a surprising amount of it including a tent, a collapsible table, chair and washbowl, lamp and coffee pot, cups, saucers and much more. Then Bob sets out for Colchester, Harwich and the crossing to Ostend where he has to swim the packhorses ashore.
As Bob was a civilian and servant he should have been safe well behind lines with the baggage but when the campaign starts Bob, with the impetuousness of youth, decides to try to be of more use to the Captain and to take the packhorses to him. The horses run off and Bob follows desperately. This results in him meeting firstly, a Grenadier of the Old Guard and then the Emperor Napoleon himself –– who gives him a message for the Duke of Wellington. Stretching credibility perhaps but it does get both Napoleon and Wellington into the story.
Bob has learnt his lesson but he is still in a good position to see –– and describe –– the Battle of Waterloo. His description includes Napoleon on his grey stallion rallying his troops and the final annihilation of the Guard.
Throughout much technical information is trickled into the story and clear explanations are made of limbers, howitzers and rockets. There are also descriptions of the Brunswick Hussars, the Dutch-Belgian infantry along with others from the allied forces. During the actual battle the part played by the infantry squares is made very clear. The horrific injuries and the primitive treatment by army surgeons is shown but somewhat played down.
The diary format does not lend itself to the plot of a conventional book but here an attempt is made to introduce a story element by giving the Captain a rogue of a jealous younger brother who would like him dead so that he could inherit himself.
Comes with a historical note, a timeline, a plan of the Battle of Waterloo and pictures.
11 +
Thirteen-year-old Anne Langcroft is an important worker in an alum works on the Yorkshire coast at the beginning of the nineteenth century. (Alum was used to soften leather and fix dyes). There is friction between the alum workers and the fisher folk of a neighbouring village. But all that changes when Anne, her sister and brother, make a desperate effort to save the fishermen from the press-gang. The fisher families show their gratitude later when there is a landslip and disaster strikes the alum works. The characters and the alum works are fictional but the book is based on two true incidents -- which happened at different times. In 1784 there was a riot in Whitby when a mob attacked the press-gang's headquarters. Later, in 1830, the Alum Works at Kettleness, together with the workers' settlement, were swept into the sea by a cliff fall. Theresa Tomlinson has meshed these two events together and produced a fascinating and exciting story. This book throws light on some of the lesser known facts of history. It shows that the trouble caused by the press-gang was far reaching. For example the economic life of Whitby virtually ground to a halt as all the men had to stay in hiding. This led to shortages of many commodities. There is also much detail about the alum works -- especially about the importance of urine. Comes with a historical note and illustrated with contemporary pictures. An engrossing story with a well researched, authentic historical background. 10+
This book is about 7,000 words long. Victorian London. With his mother dead and his father in Australia eleven-year-old Joe is glad he has a job helping Vinnie on his narrow boat the Kingfisher on the Regent's Canal -- even if the work is hard, Vinnie is old and ill and the boat is leaking. One evening Joe is sent to buy the pies for their supper. He saves Emily, a flower girl, from being trampled underfoot by a horse. When he sees that her flowers have been destroyed he rashly gives her the pie money. A young ruffian sees Joe do this and tells him how he can make more money by standing watch for some ratters. Joe reluctantly agrees but dozes off while on watch with the result that some of the men are arrested. Joe is blamed for this. He is given a basket and a net and told to catch twenty-four rats for the next evening. Joe dreads to think what will happen to him if he does not obey. Emily insists on helping him. They find that the only place where they can catch enough rats is in the London sewers. After getting the necessary quota they rush to the venue and are forced to watch the ratting session. What follows is the most powerful section of the book. The reader is made to see the terrified rats as they thrown into the pit and cower in the centre waiting for the terrier. Contrasted with this are the harsh, cruel faces of the watching men. But for young readers the effect of this is somewhat mitigated by the happy, almost fairytale ending, as Joe finally manages to escape into a better way of life. This book gives a good picture of the grim reality of Victorian life for many poorer children. There is also a great deal of detail about the canal and its boats -- about the horses that pulled the boats, about legging a boat through a tunnel. There is also much detail about the London sewers. A fast paced story that contains much information about Victorian England. A story too which will arouse the emotions of animal lovers. Comes with historical notes, a list of places to visit and a map of the Regent's Canal.
7-11
This is the story of Mary Anning's childhood, up to the time, when at twelve years old, she found the ichthyosaurus. It tells how her father digs the first 'curiosity' out of the clay and gives it to her. This sparks off an interest and whenever she has any spare time Mary will go down to the beach to try to find more despite the taunts of the local children who torment her with their rhyme. 'Stone Girl. Bone Girl. Out on your own girl.' But Mary persists and soon builds up a considerable collection. The wealthy Misses Philpot take an interest in her and tell her that her 'curiosities' are actually the remains of sea creatures from millions of years ago. One of the sisters shows her a large tooth and tells her that she is sure there are the remains of a huge sea creature on Lyme Regis beach. From then on Mary is determined to find it. Then her father dies and Mary and her mother find themselves impoverished. But Mary finds that she can make money by selling her collection. A fascinating retelling of the story of Mary Anning. The little dog adds an extra interest for animal lovers. Told simply for young children with full page colour illustrations throughout. But although intended for young children this is a book which can be enjoyed by readers of any age.
Comes with a historical note. Truly a delightful book. 7+ Back to Contents. Back to Bibliography. Back to Home Page.