tures of
Apollyon; even a still more grim series by H. C. Selous, issued by the
Art Union, if memory may be trusted, were merely exciting; it was the
mild and amiable representation of "Uncle Tom" that I felt to be the
very incarnation of all things evil. This personal incident is quoted
only to show how impossible it is for the average adult to foretell what
will frighten or what will delight a child. For children are singularly
reticent concerning the "bogeys" of their own creating, yet, like many
fanatics, it is these which they really most fear.

[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION FROM "MAKE BELIEVE." BY CHARLES ROBINSON
(JOHN LANE. 1896)]

[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION FROM "JUST FORTY WINKS" BY GERTRUDE M.
BRADLEY (BLACKIE AND SON. 1897)]

Certainly it is possible that over-conscious art is too popular to-day.
The illustrator when he is at work often thinks more of the art critic
who may review his book than the readers who are to enjoy it. Purely
conventional groups of figures, whether set in a landscape, or against a
decorative background, as a rule fail to retain a child's interest. He
wants invention and detail, plenty of incident, melodrama rather than
suppressed emotion. Something moving, active, and suggestive pleases him
most, something about which a story can be woven not so complex that his
sense is puzzled to explain why things are as the artist drew them. It
is good to educate children unconsciously, but if we are too careful
that all pictures should be devoted to raising their standard of taste,
it is possible that we may soon come back to the Miss Pinkerton ideal of
amusement blended with instruction. Hence one doubts if the
"ultra-precious" school really pleases the child; and if he refuse the
jam the powder is obviously refused also. One who makes pictures for
children, like one who writes them stories, should have the knack of
entertaining them without any appearance of condescension in so doing.
They will accept any detail that is related to the incident, but are
keenly alive to discrepancies of detail or action that clash with the
narrative. As they do not demand fine drawing, so the artist must be
careful to offer them very much more than academic accomplishment.
Indeed, he (or she) must be in sympathy with childhood, and able to
project his vision back to its point of view. And this is just a mood in
accord with the feeling of our own time, when men distrust each other
and themselves, and keep few i