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The pigtail and chopsticks manHudson Taylor cert. PGTHE PIGTAIL AND CHOPSTICKS MAN I can imagine someone asking 'Not another book about Hudson Taylor, surely?' The author, a retired primary schoolteacher in Australia, reveals in the Preface his own worthy agenda, believing properly that parents have a Scriptural mandate to teach their own children, rather than delegating it entirely to Sunday School teachers. Accordingly there are 30 chapters, possibly intended to be read by Christian parents to their children as 'bedtime stories' over a month, although six or seven pages a night might be too much for smaller children. The opening page explains that 'Copyright material is used with the kind permission of OMF International, formerly known as CIM, with grateful thanks' and though actual sources are not spelled out, the book depends on Mrs. Howard Taylor's classic two volume work, and later versions by Broomhall, Steer, Pollock and others. The book is thus a brave attempt to write a 'children's version' of a familiar adult story, something easier to do in our hero's early years, but becoming a little bewildering as the increasing number of characters and organisations become harder to follow and complex historical events like the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion harder to explain simply. Discerning the level at which children understand the adult world requires particular perception, especially over a range of age groups. Occasional 'high cringe' moments (like the 'ungodly Chinese people' p.12), pious jargon and sugary sentimentalism sometimes obtrude. The book is illustrated with black and white photos and pen drawings, and a useful map shows Ningbo and Shanghai. One of the most helpful features of the book is the two or three questions for discussion at the end of each chapter, although children old enough to answer the more difficult questions intelligently could probably read the book for themselves. Parents would need to adjust appropriately to the needs of their own children. Michael Griffiths,
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