Mrs. Isabella L. Bird Bishop says: "Miss Ballard has done English readers a great service in placing within their reach these most popular specimens of Japanese fairy lore, showing the sort of pabulum on which Japanese children are reared. I have much pleasure in commending these charming tales to all who desire a glimpse of Japanese fairy lore." * * * * * In "Fairy Tales from Far Japan" we have a charming little book, with a fore word from Isabella Bird Bishop, and two introductory chapters by the translator, Susan Ballard. The chapter entitled, "For my Grown-up Readers," gives an unusually helpful and interesting sketch of the religious condition and history of the Japanese, which is worth the price of the book for those who do not care for the fairy tales. The second chapter is avowedly intended to give the child-readers of the book a glimpse of the daily life of those who read these fairy tales in their own land. It is a delightfully chatty talk about the Japanese life and customs that must help to put the fairy tales in a setting of real life. The stories themselves are the classic tales and myths told to all Japanese children, and believed as true by the greater part of the common people. -Helping Hand, Vol. 27