The Children's Book Section

One hears sometimes of precocious children who can read before the average baby can talk, and this raises the interesting speculation as to when a child is old enough for books. Picture books and story-telling undoubtedly make early appeal and educationists now consider book provision in nursery schools important in order to make the "under fives" book conscious before their schooling proper begins. More and more librarians now provide attractive A.B.C.'s such as Eileen Mayo's Nature's A.B.C. (Universal Text Books, Ltd., 6 -) with its beautiful printing and illustrations; and gay picture books like Mary Shilla-beer's We Visit the Zoo (Hutchinson, 4 6) in which there is just enough text to satisfy the young mind. Some librarians seem to have an objection to odd-shaped books because of the shelving difficulty but the artist's requirements and the child's partiality for large-size books should outweigh the slight inconvenience of arranging special shelving.