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A NEW BOOK BY GENE STRATTON-PORTER 
I T MAY seemalittle premature to announce 
in March a novel to be published on the 
17th of August, but in December the work 
of preparing began. The first chapters were in 
the hands of the publishers before Christmas. 
Plans of illustration and decoration must be 
made and re-made very often, cover designs 
worked out in special cloth, and a great quan- 
tity of it made of the exact shade; and toward 
the spring the paper must be made, carload 
lots of it, and the printing started on many 
presses; and finally the bindery will start to 
turn out between five and ten thousand copies 
a day. 
The books themselves must be despatched 
in May to provide for simultaneous publica- 
tion on August 17th in all the English speak- 
ing countries of the world, including Australia, 
which takes probably a larger edition of a work 
by Mrs. Porter than of any other new Amer- 
ican book; England, which distributes to 
South Africa and other far-away countries; 
and Canada. 
Particulars of the book itself will come later, 
but the novel will not appear serially. 
THE STORY OF A BELGIAN DOG 
There could hardly be a more appealing or 
a more timely theme than that of “Pierrot: 
Dog of Belgium,” by Walter A. Dyer. Irre- 
spective of nationality and neutrality, no one 
can withhold admiration for the farm dogs of 
Belgium, who, when commandeered for service 
by the Belgian army, fought as valiantly as 
their masters, and tugged and galloped their 
light field-guns in the face of the irresistible 
German advance. Pierrot was just a chien de 
trait — one of the big shaggy dogs who draw 
milk carts into Brussels. Mr. Dyer, who is a 
wise lover of dogs and has made friends with 
the Belgian mastiffs who serve our New York 
police department, tells the tragedy of Belgium 
as seen through Pierrot’s eyes. It is a simple 
little story, but one that strikes home. 
A unique feature of the book is that those 
who are touched by Pierrot’s story will proba- 
bly detach the perforated card inserted at the 
end of the book, and send it (with check) to 
The Commission for Relief in Belgium of 
71 Broadway, New York City. 
EFFICIENCY IN THE HOUSEHOLD 
by Thetta Quay Franks, is not merely a book 
but a system of housekeeping. If for some 
reason the wife were to abandon her supervision 
of housekeeping problems, and the husband 
were to take charge of the kitchen, how would 
he go about it? Surely the first thing would 
be to institute some accurate system of book- 
keeping to check expenditures so that at any 
moment he could render account of his steward- 
ship. This plain business sense characterizes 
Mrs. Franks’ book, which is in reality an ac- 
count book for the housewife with a very able 
preface in which her ideas are explained. Her 
central idea is that good business system is as 
essential in the Home, where the family income 
is spent, as in the Office, where it is made. 
THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 
Every now and then a book is published that 
makes the stay-at-home man wistful. Stewart 
Edward White’s new book on Africa, “The 
Rediscovered Country,” is particularly dis- 
tressing to the man securely anchored, because 
not only does it describe the amazing sights 
that White and Cuninghame see on those trips 
of theirs, but it tells in detail just how to get to 
“the back of beyond” that they have dis- 
covered, and what to take when you go. Until 
the year 1913 there still remained, on the bor- 
ders of British and German East Africa, a huge 
virgin game field utterly unknown to sports- 
men — the last virgin game field in the world. 
Mr. White’s account of his experiences is de- 
lightfully told in his own quiet way with many 
flashes of humor. The book is guaranteed to 
make any office-living man restless. There 
are sixty-four illustrations and a map. One 
reader said: “ It is the most fascinating 
diary I have ever read.” 
THE AMERICAN BOOKS 
We have been so flooded with manuscripts 
and suggested titles for our series, “The Ameri- 
can Books,” that we beg to make public the 
following facts: 
1. Manuscripts submitted for “The Ameri- 
can Books” series must not exceed 50,000 
words. 
2. They must deal with American problems 
of current interest, emphasizing l he future 
rather than the past. 
3. “American” problems does not limit 
the books to discussion of issues existing only 
in the United States. Brazil, Mexico, and 
Canada are all within the scope of our plan. 
4. The volumes of this series are intended to 
be inspiring, non-technical, and suggestive. 
They are devised to stimulate and never to 
discourage the casual reader. 
THE POCKET NATURE LIBRARY 
We have just issued a four-volume set of 
Nature books, illustrated in the natural colors 
—in pocket size and bound in limp leather. It 
is one of the most complete, authoritative, and 
practical Nature series for field use that has 
ever been issued. We have called it the Pocket 
Nature Library. This set has been shown to 
a great many of our friends and in every case 
they are as enthusiastic about it as we are. 
It contains more than seven hundred color 
plates of the birds, the wild flowers, and the 
trees; there are more than one thousand text 
pages. If there are children in your home, this 
series should be within their reach— with it 
they will soon have a wide knowledge of 
Nature and and a great interest in the out- 
door world ; or if you are anxious to know more 
about the things that make the world an inter- 
esting place to live in, you need these books. 
The price is only $4.50. Your bookseller will 
show them to you, or this coupon will bring 
them, post paid. It will be well to mail the 
coupon now. 
Doubleday, Page & 
Company, 
Garden City, N. Y., 
Gentlemen: 
Please send me, all 
charges paid, The 
Pocket Nature Library 
in four volumes, bound 
in leather, beautifully 
illustrated in color. 
Send books with bill (it 
is understood that the 
price is only $4.50) to 
Name . 
A ddress 
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