shiny nursery, whose walls, rugs, white beds,
and sun-shiny windows are all well designed and well adapted to his
needs. Nevertheless, in the end the influence of this room is likely
to be the greater influence and to permanently shape his ideas of
the beautiful; while he is entirely certain, if allowed to develop
artistically at all, to grow past the circus poster period.

This fact--the fact that the highest influence of art is a secret
influence, exercised not only by those decorations and pictures which
flaunt themselves for the purpose, but also by those quiet, necessary,
every-day things, which nevertheless may most truly express the art
spirit--this fact makes it difficult to tell what art and what kind of
art is really influencing the child, and whether it is influencing him
in the right directions.

[Sidenote: Color]

Until he is three years old, for example, and often until he is past
that age, he is unable to distinguish clearly between green, gray and
blue; and hence these cool colors in the decorations around him, or in
his pictures, have practically no meaning for him. He has a right,
one might suppose, to the gratification of his love for clear reds and
yellows, for the sharp, well-defined lines and flat surfaces,
whose meaning is plain to his groping little mind. Some of the best
illustrators of children's books have seemed to recognize this. For
example, Boutet de Monvil in his admirable illustrations of Joan of
Arc meets these requirements perfectly, and yet in a manner which must
satisfy any adult lover of good art. The Caldecott picture books, and
Walter Crane's are also good in this respect, and the Perkins pictures
issued by the Prang Educational Co. have gained a just recognition
as excellent pictures for hanging on the nursery wall. Many of the
illustrations in color in the standard magazines are well worth
cutting out, mounting and framing. This is especially true of Howard
Pyle's work and that of Elizabeth Shippen Green.

[Sidenote: Classic Art]

Since photogravures and photographs of the masterpieces can be had
in this country very inexpensively, there is no reason why children
should not be made acquainted at an early age with the art classics,
but there is danger in giving too much space to black and white,
especially in the nursery where the children live. Their natural love
of color should be appealed to do deepen their interest in really good
pictures.

[Illustration: "My Mary"]