Mr. Street is not exceeded, if equaled, by any American poet, in the accuracy with which he observes nature, and the clearness with which he paints a scene upon the imagination with the colors of verse. If his vision of the internal life of natural objects was as quick and sure as his perception of their external forms, few English or American descriptive poets would equal him either in reputation or power over the feelings. But his mind, though abundantly fanciful, is not suggestive and imaginative, and in his descriptive pieces he is apt to catalogue rather than represent nature. His analogies, also, are rather drawn from the surface than the spirit of things. But he is admirably calculated to do what he has attempted in the present volume. Frontenac is a metrical romance, with natural descriptions varied by characters and events, and all conveyed in energetic and “numerous” verse. It is in every way worthy of Mr. Street’s high reputation, and, in saying this, we imply that it is creditable to American Literature. * * * * * _Evenings at Woodlawn. By Mrs. E. F. Ellett, Author of the “Women of the American Revolution.” New York: Baker & Scribner. 1 vol. 12mo._ The title of this book is a poor one, for it conveys no notion of its contents. It consists of a series of forty stories, translated and recast principally from the German, relating to the superstitions of the various European countries. We are favored with all sorts of legends, German, Spanish, Danish, etc., referring to supernatural personages and events; and the whole makes a book, brimful of fairies, magicians, witches, wizards, and imps, calculated to delight all who have a taste for the wild and wonderful. The volume, indeed, is admirably calculated for popularity, and we regret that its accomplished authoress should not have chosen some name for it which would give a hint of its matter. * * * * * _Children’s Books._ The Appletons of New York have just issued a series of beautiful volumes exactly fitted to charm the hearts of youthful readers. _Fireside Fairies_ is a delicious little book for a holyday present, and well adapted in its style to fasten upon the sympathies of the young. _American Historical Tales for Youth_, a thicker volume, discoursing of Henry Hudson, Daniel Boone, Captain John Smith, and other American celebrities, is a grand book to put courage and resolution as well as knowledge into the minds of boys. _Home Recreation_ is full of marvelous adventures by sea and land, related in Grandfather Merryman’s most entertaining way, and radiant with illustrative colored engravings. _The Child’s Present_ is for younger readers, and contains about fifty short stories, very quaintly told by the grandfather aforesaid. Each of these little volumes is admirably calculated for the holyday season. * * * * *